from Bruce
Anecdotes
Religion
• When novelist Anne Rice was a youngster, her mother had a good way to get her out of bed for Mass: “The body and blood of Christ is on that altar — now get out of that bed!”
Research
• While Paul Zindel, the author of such young adult novels as The Pigman, was researching a book in England, he asked people everywhere he went, “Did anything unusual ever happen here?” People at the Haunch of Venison, a 16th-century inn, replied, “Yes. We were doing renovations four years ago, and we found a severed hand in the wall.” The inn’s proprietors display the severed hand, now mummified, under glass at the bar.
• Russell Freedman, author of many nonfiction books for teenagers, lives in an apartment in New York City. While doing research for his book Martha Graham: A Dancer’s Life, he discovered that some of the people who had danced for her lived in his apartment building — to interview them, he simply rode the elevator to their floor.
• Children’s book author Peg Kehret does a lot of research for her books, including mysteries. She once went to a library and borrowed so many books about poison that the librarian grew nervous and asked to see her ID.
Revenge
• Tucson Weekly columnist Tom Danehy dislikes it when one vehicle takes up two parking spaces. He also does something about it. One thing he has done is to buy a bag of ice and lodge it under the offending vehicle’s right rear tire. Why? Tom explains, “When he [the driver] went to back out, it had to have made the most God-awful noise, causing the slamming of the brakes and the p*ssing of the pants.” One day, he was going to throw his trash in the bed of an offending truck, but he had cleaned his vehicle the day before. So he got a tube of Icy Hot out of his glove compartment and smeared some of it on the handle of the driver’s door of the offending vehicle. Tom says, “I’m really hoping that Billy Jim Bob had to adjust his chonies [testicles] after climbing into that beast.”
• Even before Jack Kerouac, author of On the Road, got published, he was a good writer. One of his early girlfriends, Edie Parker, got angry at him one day, so she made copies of the first love letter that he had sent to her and sold them for $1 each to servicemen who apparently wanted to copy the letter, sign their own names to it, and send it to their own girlfriends. Ms. Parker made $50.
Sex
• Celebrated homosexual wit Quentin Crisp used to live in a house with several tenants, including a woman who would frequently bring home men and keep everyone up with her screams of sexual ecstasy. Eventually, she turned religious and lectured the other tenants on their lack of morality. Mr. Crisp told her one day, “I think I preferred you when you were a nymphomaniac.”
• James H. Billington, the 13th Librarian of Congress, spent his life reading and writing and raising a family rather than engaging in gardening. When his wife told their young daughter the facts of life — that a baby comes from a seed that Daddy planted in Mommy — the young daughter exclaimed, “That’s IMPOSSIBLE! Daddy has never planted a single seed in his entire life!”
Travel
• When Stephenie Meyer was searching for a location in which to set Twilight, a novel about a teenaged girl named Bella Swan who falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen who has been 17 years old for over a century, she researched the rainiest spot in the United States and discovered the Olympic Peninsula, and a little town called Forks, in the state of Washington. This became the setting for her novel, the first in a very popular series of novels, and a place that many tourists are starting to go to. The residents of Forks mainly enjoy the attention. When Forks Chamber of Commerce Director Marcia Bingham asked a couple of educators, David and Kim McIrvin, to allow their home to be designated as the Swans’ home, they agreed. (Bella’s home has two stories, and the McIrvins’ home is the only house with two stories on their block.) A sign that says, “Home of the Swans,” is out front. Carlisle Cullen is the fictional vampire who brought the family of vampires together. He is a doctor, and if you go to the Forks hospital, a parking spot has a sign that says, “Dr. Cullen: Reserved Parking Only.”
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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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: "Вологда" [“Vologda”]
Album: SOVIETSURFCOVER 4
Artist: Los Vaccine
Artist Location: Moscow, Russia
Info:
“I love surf rock and I`m from Moscow, Russia. Los Vaccine is a DIY / one-man band project. I get inspired by Dick Dale, John Blair, Guano Padano, Messer Chups, Sailor Ksou & Seasick Surfers, Nebulas, Aqualads, and other musicians.”
Vologda is a city is Russia.
Price: $2 (USD) for four-track EP
Genre: Surf Instrumental.
Links:
SOVIETSURFCOVER 4
Los Vaccine on Bandcamp
Other Links:
Bruce’s Music Recommendations: FREE pdfs
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
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David Bruce's Blog #3
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Stephen Suggests
OG Means 'Old Gangsta'
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 oven burned up a year ago today. Good times.
Democracy In Action
Lawmakers
Republican lawmakers in several states are scaling back access to government business, extending pandemic-era rules that restrict when journalists can report from the floors of state legislative chambers and, in effect, making it easier to dodge the press.
As the public returns to the corridors of state capitols, new rules approved in Iowa last month and in Utah this week critically limit reporters' access to lawmakers, sparking an outcry from media organizations and press advocates.
These rule changes limit when journalists can work on the floor of the legislature where lawmakers sit, making it easier for elected officials to avoid interacting with the press, even when they take up high-profile topics like election laws, taxes and abortion.
Rules governing where journalists can work vary across the nation's 50 statehouses. Most allow credentialed reporters to observe from the chamber floors; some allow reporters to ask questions before or after proceedings; others require they remain in press boxes or alcoves separated from lawmakers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In states that are now moving to change their procedures, lawmakers argue that creating formal rules allays security concerns and prevents bad actors from disrupting governance. Press advocates say the proposed rules make it more difficult for journalists to ask questions and impede the reporters' ability to keep tabs on fast-paced statehouse action.
Lawmakers
Netflix Quintuples Down
Chappelle
Never let it be said that Netflix isn’t willing to double, and then triple, and then many-multiples-uple down on its sometimes disappointing convictions. To wit: The streaming service reiterated its commitment to being in the Dave Chappelle business earlier today, when it announced a new series of stand-up specials all produced by the comedian, who’s come under heavy criticism in recent years for transphobic material in his own work.
The four-special series is being titled Chappelle’s Home Team, and will feature four comics hand-picked by Chappelle, all stand-up veterans. First up: Earthquake, whose new special, Legendary, will debut on February 28 on the streamer. Next up will be Chappelle’s Show mainstay Donnell Rawlings; no date or title for Rawlings’ special has been set as of yet.
Chappelle—who will appear in each special to introduce the comedians—offered up a quote for the press release that went out today, saying, “I‘ve been doing this a long time and comedians like Quake and Donnell are not only friends but have inspired my own career. Anyone in the comedy community knows these names and knows their time to shine is long overdue. I am proud to be a part of this moment.”
No word yet on who the other two Home Team comics will be; Chappelle also hasn’t given any indications that he’s gearing up to record another special for Netflix himself, although a documentary about him, Live In Real Life, came out late last year.
Chappelle
Grandson Portrays Former President
Harry S. Truman
America’s 33rd president is taking center stage over Presidents Day weekend in the Florida Keys as Clifton Truman Daniel, Harry Truman’s oldest grandson, depicts his grandfather in the one-man play “Give ’Em Hell, Harry!” at the former commander in chief’s one-time retreat.
Daniel, a seasoned actor and author, performed Friday on the grounds of the sprawling Harry S. Truman Little White House in Key West, where Truman spent 11 working vacations, totaling nearly six months of his 1945-1953 administration.
“He could relax in Key West; he loved it,” Daniel said. “Apparently he wrote to my grandmother that he had a good mind to move the whole government to Key West and just stay.”
Daniel said his interpretation focuses on Truman as a good human being who cared about Americans, but also as the “grandpa” he remembered who had a strong sense of fun.
Harry S. Truman
Turning 100
Gloria Weberg
A Michigan woman soon will celebrate a milestone birthday. How old? Look at her decorative upper arm.
Gloria Weberg has “NY NY 1922” tattooed on her left arm, the year and place of her birth.
Weberg is turning 100 on March 2, not a typical age to visit a tattoo artist. But that’s what she has done every 10 years since turning 80, The Herald-Palladium reported.
Her birth year and New York is under a goddess representing Mother Earth — added at age 80 — and among seven stars representing her children, which she added at age 90.
Weberg and her late husband raised their family in the Chicago area. She got a college degree at age 55 from Chicago State University and worked as a social worker.
Gloria Weberg
This
Pennsylvania
The party’s brand is so toxic in the small towns 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh that some liberals have removed bumper stickers and yard signs and refuse to acknowledge publicly their party affiliation. These Democrats are used to being outnumbered by the local Republican majority, but as their numbers continue to dwindle, those who remain are feeling increasingly isolated and unwelcome in their own communities.
“The hatred for Democrats is just unbelievable,” said Tim Holohan, an accountant based in rural McKean County who recently encouraged his daughter to get rid of a pro-Joe Biden bumper sticker. “I feel like we’re on the run.”
The climate across rural Pennsylvania is symptomatic of a larger political problem threatening the Democratic Party heading into the November elections. Beyond losing votes in virtually every election since 2008, Democrats have been effectively ostracized from the overwhelmingly white parts of rural America, leaving party leaders with few options to reverse a cultural trend that is redefining the political landscape.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party continues to devote the vast majority of its energy, messaging and resources to voters in more populated urban and suburban areas.
In Pennsylvania, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a leading candidate in the Senate contest, insists his party can no longer afford to ignore rural voters. The former small-town mayor drove his black Dodge Ram pickup truck across five rural counties last weekend to face voters who almost never see statewide Democratic candidates.
Pennsylvania
Responds To Rafael
Mexico
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Born In Canada) has accused Mexico of “undermining the rule of law,” and Mexico's government shot back on Friday, saying at least candidates in Mexico concede defeat when they lose elections.
The exchange came after the Republican from Texas claimed earlier this week there was “deepening civil unrest in Mexico and the breakdown there of civil society, the breakdown of the rule of law.” Cruz was referring to recent killings of journalists and politicians in Mexico.
Responding in a letter to Cruz late Thursday, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States wrote, “I invite you to look at what happened in our national election."
“Without exception, all of the political parties accepted the results and got on with the task of strengthening our democracy and freedom of expression,” Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma wrote.
Mexico
Declared Hippos Invasive Species
Colombia
Álvaro Molina has had his run-ins with the burly bunch of neighbors with disreputable contacts who showed up about a decade ago along the river in front of his house in Colombia's Antioquia province. But he's learned to live with them and says he is worried about a government plan he fears could harm them.
People around Puerto Triunfo have grown accustomed to the herd of hippopotamuses descended from a few that were imported illegally from Africa in the 1980s by flamboyant drug lord Pablo Escobar, whose former ranch is nearby.
Molina, 57, says he supports the hippos even though he is one of the few Colombians to have been attacked by one. He was out fishing one day when he felt a movement beneath his canoe that spilled him into the water.
Within weeks, Colombia's government plans to sign a document declaring the hippos an exotic invasive species, according to Environment Minister Carlos Eduardo Correa. This means coming up with a plan for how to control their population, which has reached 130 and is projected hit 400 in eight years if nothing is done as they flourish in Colombia's rivers.
Escobar’s Hacienda Nápoles — and the hippos — have become a sort of local tourist attraction in the years since the kingpin was killed by police in 1993. When his ranch was abandoned the hippos survived and reproduced in local rivers and favorable climatic conditions. They began showing up around Puerto Triunfo a decade ago.
Colombia
Two New Studies
Interstellar Light Sail
For centuries, people have dreamed of being driven at speed across the vast oceans of space by winds of light.
As whimsical as the idea sounds, nudging reflective sails slowly towards the speed of light using nothing more than the punch of photons might be our only plausible shot at reaching another star inside of a single human lifetime.
It's also far easier said than done. Particles of light might be fast, but they don't push very hard. If you make a sail light enough to feel the inertia of radiation, then the constant barrage of photons could inadvertently damage its material.
Making a sail that can withstand the hazards that threaten spacecraft on such a long journey is going to require some clever solutions; maybe the kind of solutions proposed in two studies published recently in the journal Nano Letters.
Devised by engineers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California at Los Angeles in the US as part of the Breakthrough Starshot initiative, the innovations aim to find ways to strike the balance in durability and mass required for an interstellar vessel.
Interstellar Light Sail
Spotted For First Time
Bat Falcon
A bat falcon has been spotted for the first time in the U.S., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.
The bird was observed in December at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in South Texas. The Fish and Wildlife Service shared photos of it on its Facebook page just this week.
“Everyone that can catch a glimpse is looking at this bat falcon right now,” the agency said in its post Tuesday. “This is the first recorded time that a bat falcon has ever been seen in the U.S.!”
The bird, which usually weighs 4.8 to 8.5 ounces, typically breeds in Mexico, as well as Central and South America, according to the refuge.
“Judging by the thickness of the tarsus and beak,” it appears to be a male, the refuge added.
Bat Falcon
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