Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Roger Ebert: The human race on a key ring
Richard Dawkins observed in The Selfish Gene that from the point of view of a gene, a living body is merely a carrier to transport it into the future. I believe we are now entering the century of the Selfish Mind.
Aaron Sagers: "Pop 20: When the economy and pop culture collide" (MCT)
Every time I go on vacation, I am taken by a bit of the "grass is greener" syndrome. It is most likely related to the fact that when I'm gone, my responsibilities and worries slip away temporarily so just about any location separate from my real world of work and responsibilities seems superior. For a few days after every trip, I'm likely to talk about the food tasting better, the sand being more powdery, the coffee carrying an extra punch. That attitude fades quickly, but I'm always left with some lingering beliefs about my home turf versus the away field.
Peter Sagal: Do 'Childish Things' Include 'Lord Of The Rings'? (npr.org)
We lost science fiction author Philip Jose Farmer a few weeks ago, and a few weeks before that, I said farewell to actors Patrick McGoohan and Ricardo Montalban. This may not mean much to you, but these three gentlemen, among many others, provided me with an important commodity when I was growing up: imaginary people.
David Patrick Stearns: After decades of success, Andre Previn has more work in mind (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
If Andre Previn's life passed before your eyes, the view would be so varied, romantic, and stuffed with music great and otherwise, you'd need sunglasses.
Bob Stanley: The legacy of Dusty Springfield (timesonline.co.uk)
The greatest girl singer of the Sixties would be 70 this month, but her legacy is evergreen.
IAIN ELLIS: "SUBVERSIVE ROCK HUMOR: Art Brut(ally) Funny" (popmatters.com)
French artist Jean Dubuffet coined the term "art brut" to refer to those artists either incapable of being-or unwilling to be-assimilated by the official art world or culture. Literally translated to mean "raw" or "rough" art, Dubuffet was interested in those artists whose work retained their primal power and authenticity by virtue of it not being put through the conventional "cooking process" of art schools, galleries, and agents.
Jon Bream: Why are we so fascinated with that train wreck named Britney Spears? (Star Tribune)
Never in the history of pop music has anyone achieved so much with so little talent as Britney Spears.
Kevin Maher: "'Let the Right One In': When is a vampire film not a vampire film?" (timesonline.co.uk)
The Swedish preteen vampire movie is a sweet meditation on the pains of childhood rather than a horror flick.
Emily Bazelon: May the Force Be With Them (slate.com)
Why does "Star Wars" still take over the minds of small boys?
Jack Malvern: Darth Vader actor David Prowse warns beware of small print (timesonline.co.uk)
On screen, David Prowse could strangle a man with a flick of his finger and destroy planets from his space station, but the actor best known for playing Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" films was less persuasive when it came to dealing with Hollywood.
Rick Bentley: What's the word on Fox's new 'Osbournes: Reloaded'? Don't ask Ozzy (McClatchy Newspapers)
Interviewing Ozzy Osbourne is not the easiest task on the planet. If he hears the question - and more often than not he doesn't - the answer can be mumbled beyond recognition. Equally frustrating is that Ozzy can be a man of few words.
Marijke Rowland: "Lynda Carter: The new Wonder Woman of cabaret" (McClatchy Newspapers)
Before she was the daughter of Hippolyta, before she had that Lasso of Truth, before she wore those satin tights, Lynda Carter loved to sing.
The Weekly Poll
The next Poll will be April 7th - BadToTheBoneBob's 'out state' on vacation.
On the old TV series 'The Monkees', the boys cruised around in
the Monkee Mobile, which was a modified 1967 insert brand name here
Vic in AK replied:
OK....I was a fan...
wrote:
Reader Suggestion
Bill Moyers
Daily Kos: Moyers drops bailout bomb on Obama
This evening, Bill Moyers interviewed William K. Black, the former senior regulator during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, who blew the whistle on the Keating Five (the U.S. Senators implicated in taking "gifts" from S&L bankster Charles Keating was convicted of racketeering and fraud in both state and federal court after his Lincoln Savings & Loan). Black is now an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri, and the author of the recently released book, The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One.
Black, who supported the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, excoriated both President Obama, and former President Bush, and their Treasury Secretaries Timothy Geithner and Hank Paulson, respectively, for deliberately and consciously violating the law. Specifically, the Prompt Corrective Action Law, passed after the savings and loan crisis, which mandates that severely undercapitalized banks be promptly put into receivership (i.e., nationalized).
Check it out!
Michelle
Thanks, Michelle!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Beautiful spring day.
'A' Train From New York to Baghdad
'Sound Merchants'
It was an unlikely journey but Duke Ellington's "Take the 'A' train" rang out in Baghdad's "Green Zone" on Saturday, almost 50 years after the jazz legend himself played in the Iraqi capital.
This time it was New York musician Alvin Atkinson and the "Sound Merchants" who played amid bright sunshine in the gardens of Baghdad's Rasheed Hotel, a focal point of life during the regime of fallen dictator Saddam Hussein.
"Jazz has always been a story of multi-culture," Atkinson said, before his band played for more than an hour in a set that featured Ellington's 'A' train, as well as a session with an Iraqi band that played traditional Arabic music.
Atkinson, whose tour has featured two other Iraq gigs, in Kurdish Arbil and in Ur, the renowned archaeological site and reputed birthplace of Abraham, flew into Baghdad in a Black Hawk helicopter at the invitation of the US embassy.
'Sound Merchants'
Tartan Day Parade
Alan Cumming
Hollywood star Alan Cumming is to lead a parade through New York as the annual Scotland Week celebrations kick off in America.
Cumming, who starred in the movie X-Men 2, has been chosen as the grand marshal of the Tartan Day Parade.
And he will be joined at the event by students from his former drama school, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD).
The RSAMD has also announced Cumming as the president of its new American Foundation.
Alan Cumming
Montreal Exhibit
Bed-In
A large bed with white sheets is a central feature of a new exhibition marking the 40th anniversary of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "bed-in" for peace, a week-long protest against the Vietnam War. Skip related content
Visitors to the Montreal exhibition, "Imagine: The Peace Ballad of John & Yoko," can lie on the oversized bed, listen to archive interviews and watch clips from the peaceful protest that Lennon and Ono conducted from their bed at the city's Queen Elizabeth Hotel.
The show, at Montreal's Museum of Fine Arts, uses videos, sketches, photographs, and an omnipresent soundtrack of music and voices to examine the former Beatle's "War is Over" campaign and his relationship with Ono.
Ono, in Montreal for the exhibition's early April opening, told Canadian and international media that the message from her 1969 protest with Lennon remained relevant.
Bed-In
Meditation Project
David Lynch
Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Donovan have shared a stage to talk about their experiences of learning transcendental meditation together more than 40 years ago.
They were joined by former Beach Boy Mike Love and dance music star Moby to speak in support of a project to teach one million children the meditation technique.
The stars have all agreed to play for free at a concert in New York tomorrow to raise funds for the scheme which is the brainchild of film maker David Lynch.
David Lynch
Coins Are Back At NJ's Oldest Casino
Resorts Atlantic City
It used to be the signature sound of gambling: the clacking of coins spilling into metal trays on slot machines. But newer electronic machines that spit paper vouchers or credit winnings to cards now emit only canned noise.
Now Atlantic City's oldest casino is bringing back the real clang amid indications that some gamblers miss the way things used to be.
"You think you're playing a real slot machine here," said Jeanette Snell of Union, who won two $25 jackpots less than five minutes after she started playing Friday at Resorts Atlantic City. "This feels like a game; the other ones, it's just losing money."
"This is real money!" she said. "I like this better."
Resorts opened eight of the coin machines this week, and will add others if they catch on. The casino, with one of the oldest customer bases in Atlantic City, has been doing well with a nightclub called "Boogie Nights," where '70s disco rules.
Resorts Atlantic City
WHDH in Boston
Jay Leno
NBC says it knows of no other affiliates seeking to follow Boston's lead and abandon Jay Leno.
WHDH in Boston says it will air a local newscast at 10 p.m. next fall instead of Leno's planned nightly show at that hour. Station management said it believed a newscast would make the station more money.
NBC has responded firmly, threatening to strip WHDH of its network affiliation if it doesn't air Leno and undoubtedly send a message to any other stations that may be thinking of doing the same thing. NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks says no other NBC stations have said they won't take Leno.
Jay Leno
Hate Radio Pays Off
Pittsburgh
A man opened fire on officers during a domestic disturbance call Saturday morning, killing three of them, a police official said. Friends said he recently had been upset about losing his job and that he feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.
Friends identified the suspect as Richard Poplawski, 23, but police would not immediately confirm his name. The gunman was arrested after a four-hour standoff, police said.
Edward Perkovic said Poplawski, his best friend, feared "the Obama gun ban that's on the way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon." Another longtime friend, Aaron Vire, said Poplawski feared that President Barack Obama was going to take away his rights, though he said he "wasn't violently against Obama."
Vire, 23, said Poplawski once had an Internet talk show but that it wasn't successful. Vire said Poplawski had an AK-47 rifle and several powerful handguns, including a .357 Magnum.
Pittsburgh
Sarah's Sister-In-Law
Diana Palin
Police say Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's sister-in-law is accused of breaking into the same home twice to steal money.
Deputy Wasilla Police Chief Greg Wood says 35-year-old Diana Palin was arrested Thursday after she was confronted by the homeowner in the governor's hometown of Wasilla. She faces two counts of felony burglary and misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass and theft.
Wood says tire tracks and shoe prints tied Palin to another break-in Tuesday in which $400 was taken. Police have not tied Palin to another burglary at the home last week.
Governor spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton says Palin is the half sister of the governor's husband and the family has no comment.
Diana Palin
Angry Nanny
Robert De Niro
A nanny who was fired by Robert De Niro has sued the actor for more than $40,000 in overtime pay.
Alexis Barry says in court papers that she was never paid for more than 750 hours of overtime and never took 10 vacation days. She began working for De Niro and his wife, Grace Hightower, in August 2006, and says she was fired 10 months later - after she said she was going to quit. The couple have an 11-year-old son.
Barry says she is owed more than $40,000. She filed a lawsuit Friday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court.
Robert De Niro
Not In My Neighborhood
'HGTV's $250,000 Challenge'
Drew Lachey is hosting a new HGTV competition series with a hefty mortgage payoff prize.
The cable network said Friday that "HGTV's $250,000 Challenge" will give five neighboring families the chance to snare the quarter-million-dollar prize by competing in home-improvement challenges.
The four-part series, debuting on May 31, teams the families with construction and design experts who will help them with weekly contests including kitchen and living room makeovers.
'HGTV's $250,000 Challenge'
In Memory
Tom Braden
Tom Wardell Braden, a former CIA agent who helped launch CNN's political debate show "Crossfire," has died, his family said. He was 92. Braden also was known for writing "Eight is Enough," a 1975 book about his eight children that inspired a TV show.
Braden was born in Greene, Iowa and graduated from Dartmouth College. After serving with the British and U.S. armies during World War II, he joined the CIA.
He returned to Washington and helped start a local radio and TV show called, "Confrontation." Then in 1982, he took the same idea of partisan sparring and created "Crossfire" with Pat Buchanan. He left the show in 1991.
Tom Braden
In Memory
Duane Jarvis
Duane Jarvis, who played lead guitar with Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, John Prine, Michelle Shocked and others when he wasn't recording and touring as a respected singer-songwriter in his own right, has died from colon cancer. He was 51.
Jarvis died Wednesday at his home in Marina del Rey, where he was receiving hospice care after stopping treatment that in recent months had included two major surgeries and three rounds of chemotherapy, Kevin Jarvis, a drummer who performed frequently with his older brother, told the Los Angeles Times.
"Duane passed away this morning at 1:30 a.m. with a smile on his face," Kevin Jarvis wrote in an e-mail sent Wednesday to family members and friends, according to the newspaper. "We knew time was short by the way things were going that day, although Duane surprised us a little by leaving us quite so soon."
Jarvis' guitar work was prized by some of the most esteemed practitioners of American music for its emotive power, musical economy and sonic atmospherics, the paper said.
"There was something pure in his happiness about music. I always felt he was just a smile away. ... He'd give me that sideways look like we were getting away with something, that we'd been let loose in the magic sandbox," Yoakam said.
Duane Jarvis
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