from Bruce
Anecdotes
Choreographers
• When Anton Dolin’s first choreographed his “Doll Ballet,” lots of people came to him, requesting something special, such as a solo for a friend. He listened to them—as he says, “like a fool”—with the result that the ballet was very bad, and he had to re-choreograph it, with no special bits, but instead with all the dancers used en masse. By the way, in 1917, when he was a young man (and still dancing under his real name: Patrick Kay), Mr. Dolin appeared in Fédora, where he had a small but important role as a Russian page. Sir Squire Bancroft asked him at a rehearsal whether he spoke French. Mr. Dolin replied that he did not; nevertheless, Sir Squire Bancroft asked him to speak the word “madame” as the French do. Mr. Dolin made the attempt, then Sir Squire Bancroft told him, “My lad, you’d better say it in English. Don’t try to speak like a Frenchman.”
• Choreographer George Balanchine always wanted the members of his New York City Ballet to behave with consideration in whatever place they visited. Once he became very annoyed in West Berlin when some members of his company boarded a bus after carrying out from a restaurant some china cups filled with coffee. By the way, Mr. Balanchine once choreographed a ballet with the title “Pamtgg,” which stood for the advertising slogan “Pan Am makes the going great.” Unfortunately, the ballet was a flop.
• When choreographer Leonide Massine owned the island of Li Galli, occasionally tourists would try to land on his island. When that happened, Mr. Massine would take a bullhorn and shout at them: “Get off my property.” Later, when Rudolf Nureyev owned the island, he would do the same thing.
Clothing
• Stella Ehrhart, age eight in 2012 and then a third-grader at Dundee Elementary School in Omaha, Nebraska, wore costumes to school, beginning when she was in the second grade. That school year, she wore a different costume each school day, but in the third grade she repeated some costumes.
She and her mother kept a list of Stella’s costumes. On her first day of the second grade, she wore ordinary clothing, but on the second day of school, she dressed as author Laura Ingalls Wilde. The costumes usually featured a notable woman from her book 100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century, which is heavily illustrated with photographs. The costumes were not necessarily elaborate. She has been singer Billie Holiday (a black dress and a red tissue-paper flower) and actress Grace Kelly (pink satin lace) and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (a hat that her aunt bought for her in Vietnam). She has also worn costumes such as one for singer Joan Baez (a military-green fitted half-blazer, a patterned blouse, black slacks, and cowboy boots).
Classmate Abby Adams identified her favorite of Stella’s costumes: “Ummm, Laura Ingalls Wilder. She wore, like, these shoes that were black and white. She wore, like, this dress with leggings. It’s kind of cool. I might do it next year.” Best friend Virginia Holtzclaw said, “My favorite costume was last year—she dressed as me.” Jack Jenowe said, “One time she dressed as our principal. It’s cool.”
Stella’s father is actor-director-teacher Kevin Ehrhart, who played the Cat in the Hat during a Rose Theater production of Seussical the Musical—Stella played a baby kangaroo. Her mother is actor-director Stephanie Anderson. Her mother liked it when Stella wore a costume for artist “Georgia O’Keeffe. That was one of my favorites.” Stella once pointed to a picture of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and asked, “Mom, was I her on Friday?” Her mother replied, “No. You were Queen Elizabeth.”
• Marie Camargo (1710-1770) was an innovator in ballet. Before Ms. Camargo, ballerinas danced in ankle-length skirts. Ms. Camargo caused a scandal by dancing in skirts that showed part of her calf; however, this allowed her to create ballet moves that featured the ballerinas’ feet—she was the likely inventor of the entrechat-quatre, a move in which the ballerina jumps and crosses her feet four times while in the air. Later, Marie Sallé (1707-1756) further improved the ballerina’s clothing by dancing in a petticoat and a simple dress—although she still wore a corset. Today, classical ballerinas dance in tights and a short skirt known as a tutu. By the way, Ms. Camargo knew how to seize opportunity. A mere member of a dance ensemble, she wished to be a star. At a concert, a male dancer named Dumoulin failed to respond to his cue, so Ms. Camargo left the ensemble, went to the front of the stage, and improvised a solo that was enthusiastically applauded. Also by the way, on 14 February 1734, Ms. Sallé produced and starred in Pygmalion, which she also choreographed. Pygmalion was the first ballet to be fully choreographed by a woman.
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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: "Fat Daddy"
EP: A JOHN WATERS CHRISTMAS TRIBUTE
Artist: Vista Blue
Artist Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Info:
“Vista Blue is a rock band based in Nashville. Rooted in New Orleans, members have played in The Loblaws (Mutant Pop), Second Saturday (Excellent Records), and The Robinsons (One Eye, Mooster, Killer Records). Influences include Beatles, Beach Boys, Ramones, Fountains of Wayne, Weezer, MTX, Queers, Apples, etc.”
“I'm obviously a huge fan of Christmas songs, and I record Christmas tracks every year with several different projects and friends. But I also listen to a lot of Christmas music, and I'm always searching to find classics that have slipped past me.
“Last year, my friend Rusty introduced me to A JOHN WATERS CHRISTMAS on a holiday podcast that we do. I'd known about the record, but I had no idea how amazing it was. Aside from a couple of exceptions, it's an entire album of songs that should be standards today for one reason or another.
“The moment I heard the first track, ‘Fat Daddy,’ I knew we'd have to record it, so we decided to just pick a few of the songs to cover this year. And here we are.
“If you've never heard the original album, I can't recommend it enough, and you can't possibly get a good understanding of it by listening to our versions of these four tunes. What you're hearing here are essentially Vista Blue versions of R&B, country, doo-wop, and children's songs. We tried to arrange these tracks as though we had written them ourselves here in 2021.
“But really, go buy the original album, and enjoy it with your whole family this year. From the opening sounds of ‘Fat Daddy’ to the final moments of ‘Santa Claus Is a Black Man’ and everything in between, A JOHN WATERS CHRISTMAS is just a wonderful compilation.”
Original versions of the covers on the Vista Blue EP appear on A JOHN WATERS CHRISTMAS (2004):
1. Fat Daddy - Fat Daddy
2. Jimmy Donley - Santa! Don't Pass Me By
3. Stormy Weather - Christmas Time Is Coming (A Street Carol)
4. Rita Faye Wilson - Sleigh Bells, Reindeer, and Snow
Price: Name Your Price (Includes FREE) for four-track EP
Genre: Christmas.
Links:
A JOHN WATERS CHRISTMAS TRIBUTE
Vista Blue on Bandcamp
mike fletcher on YouTube
Other Links:
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
Street Art
Other Links:
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David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
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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
Coastal eddy settled in, kept the marine layer in place all day.
Pre-Grammys Tribute
Joni Mitchell
An 81-year-old jazz giant and a 15-year-old rock singer were the first to perform tributes to Joni Mitchell on Friday night.
Such was the diversity of artists honoring a most diverse artist, Mitchell, a Canadian-turned-Californian, folkie-turned-rocker-turned-jazz explorer who was honored as the 2022 MusiCares Person of the year by the Recording Academy two days before the Grammy Awards.
Herbie Hancock played a jazz piano rendition of music from Mitchell’s 1976 album “Hejira” that was followed by a rocking version of 1974's “Help Me” from Violet Grohl, the teenage daughter of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, to open the tribute concert in a ballroom at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.
Seven years after a brain aneurysm that left her temporarily unable to walk or speak, Mitchell, 78, was delighted to be in Las Vegas and out at a major public event for the first time since the pandemic began.
“I had the best margarita that I’ve ever had at our hotel,” she told The Associated Press as she walked into the gala.
Joni Mitchell
Colleges Eye Honorary Degrees
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
At least 17 colleges and universities in several states will jointly offer honorary degrees to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their commencement ceremonies this spring.
Alfred University President Mark Zupan said the idea grew from his request to have Zelenskyy speak virtually to a combination of graduating classes.
When an official at the Ukrainian embassy declined the western New York university’s request, the institutions agreed to award honorary degrees in absentia to honor Zelenskyy’s leadership in the Russia-Ukraine war.
“The gesture was motivated by the inspiring example provided by President Zelenskyy to his people and the broader world in defense of freedom and democracy,” Zupan said in a news release Friday.
Several additional campuses in upstate New York, which has a significant population with ties to Ukraine, have committed to the idea. They are being joined by institutions in Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Others are expected to join in, Alfred University said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Credits Ryan White’s Family
Elton John
Elton John credits teenage AIDS victim Ryan White and his family with saving his life.
The singer told the crowd at his concert at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Friday that spending time around White’s family caused him to make changes in his life. White was from Indiana.
“I knew that my lifestyle was crazy and out of order. And six months later, I got sober and clean and have been ever since,” John said.
He said White’s family was the catalyst for him to change.
“I cannot thank them enough, because without them, I’d probably be dead,” the singer said, WTHR-TV reported.
Elton John
Swapped Shows For April Fools
The Late-Night Jimmys
Ah, the magic of April Fools: That whimsical day when two very rich white guys named Jimmy can swap their nationally broadcast TV shows, producing minimally different episodes than they might otherwise have produced!
That’s right: Late night talk’s two most extant Jimmys pulled a little switcheroo last night, with NBC’s Jimmy Fallon flying to California to fill in as host on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, while Jimmy Kimmel headed to New York to surreptitiously seize the Tonight Show, like some sort of transcontinental Jay Leno.
And while we have no evidence that this whole thing—apparently in the works for two years of meticulous plotting from the greatest minds in “booking a plane ticket and not telling Questlove” science—was a Machiavellian plot by Kimmel to remind the world he’s about a hundred times the joke teller that Jimmy Fallon is, that certainly was the end result. God knows how Tonight Show audiences must have reacted to a couple of actual pointed political jokes flying across their stage, even as Fallon gently tousled the hair of the ABC audience with some extremely tepid jabs about the network’s programming, before defaulting back to an actual, non-ironic “Damn Daniel” joke.
Anyway: The night concluded with simultaneous performances by Red Hot Chili Peppers on both shows?! (They pre-taped the Kimmel one and played live in New York.) Will these giggle-inducing wonders never cease?
The Late-Night Jimmys
Electric Avenue Lawsuit
Eddy Grant
Reggae singer Eddy Grant may succeed where the attorney general of New York state and other powerful figures have struggled – by forcing Donald Trump the failed game show host to answer questions under oath in a legal proceeding.
Grant sued the former president and his campaign over the use of the song Electric Avenue in an ad in 2020.
In the ad, Grant’s song plays over an animation of Joe Biden traveling slowly in a handcar, after a Trump campaign train passes at high speed. Remarks from Biden are also heard.
According to Grant’s lawsuit: “As of 1 September 2020, the video had been viewed more than 13.7m times; the tweet containing the video had been ‘liked’ more than 350,000 times, re-tweeted more than 139,000 times, and had received nearly 50,000 comments.”
Grant claims copyright infringement and seeks $300,000 in damages. Trump The grifter has failed to have the suit dismissed.
Eddy Grant
Q Queen
Ginni
Ginni Thomas regularly met with Donald Trump the failed gameshow host while he was president, often providing him lists of people whom he should fire and hire — one of which the White House suspected of being a foreign spy.
The latest turn in the MAGA unmasking of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife, who we learned last week sent a series of text messages pressuring Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to work to overturn the 2020 election, comes by way of a Daily Beast report published Friday.
The meetings between Trump the conman and Thomas didn’t exactly leave the former president in a good mood, according to the Daily Beast. “We all knew that within minutes after Ginni left her meeting with the president, he would start yelling about firing people for being disloyal,” a former senior Trump administration official told the outlet. “When Ginni Thomas showed up, you knew your day was wrecked.”
Thomas’ hiring memos were not taken seriously by Trump the grifters aides. According to the Beast, “they were so often filled with infamous bigots and conspiracy theorists, woefully under-qualified names, and obvious close friends of Thomas that several senior Trump currently unemployed aides would laugh at them — that is, until Trump the loser would force his staff to put certain names through the official vetting process, three sources familiar with the matter said.”
It was during this process that one of the names was disqualified for being a potential foreign-intelligence asset. It’s unclear who this person was. “These fucking lists were so insane and unworkable,” one former administration official summarized. “A lot of them were dripping with paranoia and read like they were written by a disturbed person.”
Ginni
Targets Disney and Apple
Rupert
Fox News host scold Laura Ingraham told corporations like Disney and Apple to "stay in your lane" regarding recent anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
In her segment on Friday, Ingraham accused Disney of "mischaracterizing the laws that they spend millions of dollars lobbying against as anti-LGBTQ when in reality, these laws are aimed at protecting kids and women."
"These businesses should really learn this lesson now before it's too late: Stay in your lane," Ingraham said. "Because if your CEOs want to dive into contentious political issues, about which they know nothing apparently, expect to be treated like any lame political pundit, on, let's say, MSNBC."
"When Republicans get back into power, Apple and Disney need to understand one thing: Everything will be on the table – your copyright and trademark protection, your special status within certain states, and even your corporate structure itself," Ingraham said.
Rupert
Finds Partner
Peregrine Falcon
A peregrine falcon whose longtime mate died this week amid the breeding season appears to have found a new partner to help her hatch two eggs.
Grinnell, one of a beloved pair of peregrine falcons who made their longtime home atop the bell tower at the University of California, Berkeley, was found dead Thursday. Less than 24 hours later, his partner Annie had mated with a new untagged male falcon, Cal Falcons, a group that monitors the birds, said on Twitter Friday.
“When a mated Peregrine dies during the breeding season, the most likely outcome of the nest is abandonment,” Cal Falcons tweeted. “In rare cases, a new mate can come in, establish a bond with the remaining individual, and adopt the chicks.”
While peregrine falcons typically mate for life, those who lose a partner will seek a replacement after a mate dies.
The new falcon also appeared interested in incubating Annie’s eggs and performed multiple courtship displays with Annie after spending the night in her gravel nest, the group said.
Peregrine Falcon
Hit Earth More Often Than Thought
'Electron Showers'
Tomorrow's weather may be cloudy with a chance of electrons, thanks to a newly detected phenomenon in Earth's magnetic shield.
Described as unexpected, ultra-fast "electron precipitation," the phenomenon occurs when waves of electromagnetic energy pulse through Earth's magnetosphere – the magnetic field generated by the churning of Earth's core, which surrounds our planet and shields it from deadly solar radiation. These electrons then overflow from the magnetosphere and plummet toward Earth.
The torrential electron rains are more likely to occur during solar storms, and they may contribute to the aurora borealis, according to research published March 25 in the journal Nature Communications.
The new study shows that electron downpours can occur far more often than previous research thought possible.
'Electron Showers'
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
