ESTHER INGLIS-ARKELL: The Perfect Health Regimen that Only an Absolute Dictator Could Impose (io9)
There's been a lot of outrage over outlawing large sodas and banning trans-fats, and some people have complained about the Nanny State. But that's nothing. What if the state really decided to force you to live healthily? The results would be a horrifying dystopia, in which everybody lived to be 120.
Sanford Pinsker: Kicking Catcher in the Rye Out of the Curriculum (Irascible Professor)
I was saddened to learn that there is a plan afoot to pull J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, along with classic novels such as Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, from the US high school curriculum. Why so? Because, as the new thinking at the Common Core State Standards would have it, "informational texts" matter more than does creative writing. The result is that, in 46 of 50 states, it will be compulsory that 70% of the books studies in high schools be non-fiction. Moreover, they tell us that these changes will be implemented by 2014.
David Haglund: Comedy Legend Jonathan Winters Dies at 87 (Slate)
Winters was a popular guest on several TV shows, including The Jack Paar Show, where he showed off his gift for improvisation. "Do something with the stick," Paar said, in one famous bit. Winters, as the AP put it this afternoon, "swiftly became a fisherman, violinist, lion tamer, canoeist, U.N. diplomat, bullfighter, flutist, delusional psychiatric patient, British headmaster and Bing Crosby's golf club."
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor and pianist. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential and successful film composers of all time. In a career spanning over six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in cinematic history, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Home Alone and its sequel, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, War Horse, Lincoln, and the first three Harry Potter films. He has had a long association with director Steven Spielberg, composing the music for all but two (Duel and The Color Purple) of Spielberg's major feature films.
Other notable works by Williams include theme music for four Olympic Games, NBC Sunday Night Football, the NBC Nightly News, the Statue of Liberty's rededication, and the television series Lost in Space and Land of the Giants. Williams has also composed numerous classical concerti, and he served as the Boston Pops Orchestra's principal conductor from 1980 to 1993; he is now the orchestra's conductor laureate.
John Williams has won five Academy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. He has also been nominated for 22 Golden Globes, winning four, and 59 Grammys, winning 21. With 48 Oscar nominations, Williams currently holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for a living person, and is the second most nominated person in Academy Awards history behind only Walt Disney's 59.
Source
Alan J was first, and correct, with:
Composer John Williams
Adam answered:
I thought so- John Williams, the composer.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, wrote:
John Williams
Charlie responded:
I tried to guess, missed by a mile.
It's the composer John Williams.
Marian replied:
John Williams
Sally said:
Composer John Williams has 48 total nominations, and holds the record for nominations. My son and I are big Williams fans - ever since the, "Star Wars" score.
John used to conduct the Boston Pops Orchestra, and every Saturday morning NPR had a 2 hr show featuring the music of the Pops.
The kids and I listened faithfully (daddy worked on Saturday or he would have done so as well - and did enjoy the show on occasion when he was home). These Saturdays hold such good memories for my family - thank you John Williams and NPR!
PS: @B2BB, Too bad you didn't go on the become an MD, in a PRIVATE practice. Bet you would have been great!!
Dale of Diamond Springs, Norcali answered:
Film composer John Williams. He has the best job in the world!!! I've tried scoring friends short films, most fun and frustrating thing I've ever attempted. I want to do more of it when I retire sometime in the (maybe not so long), future? Michelle Williams & Sarah Silverman. I've got two more days of this tax season!!!!!
MAM wrote:
John Williams
BttbBob responded:
John Williams - composer of film scores, conductor, pianist... I remember how popular his soundtrack to the first "Star Wars" film was and hearing it at numerous parties. It really was the very thing, dontcha know, in '77.
~~~~~
Rumor has it that Dick Cheney has adopted William's Star Wars "Imperial March" Vader Theme - YouTube as his official theme tune...
If not true, it should be... Seriously...
~~~~~
Happy Birthday this day to:
Adrien Brody (39) - Oscar for 'Best Actor' in "The Pianist" (2002)
Ritchie Blackmore (67) Guitarist for "Deep Purple" [ Hush - Deep Purple - YouTube ]
Julie Christie (71) - Another "Doctor Zhivago" star... A real beauty, Lara...
Anthony Michael Hall (44) - best known for playing teenage geeks in
"The Breakfast Club", "Weird Science" and "Sixteen Candles".
He did it well...
Loretta Lynn (77) - Coal miner's daughter... [ Loretta Lynn - Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' - YouTube ] (with lovin' on yer mind - har!)
Born this day:
Rod Steiger (1925-2002)
John Gielgud (1904-2000)
April 14 Birthdays - Celebrities Born April 14 | Famous Birthdays
~~~~~
Good bye, Jonathan. You made me laugh... a lot.
And, Joe S replied:
That is a good question, now if I can only come up with a good answer. And the good answer is.................JOHN WILLIAMS!
Composer of all the good movie songs like
Harry Potter.
PS We escaped all the snow and ice of the past few days. It fell all around us, North, East and South, we only had rain. Comes from good living.
Deep marine layer settled in and said "no sun for you".
Tonight, Sunday:
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a FRESH'Amazing Race', then a FRESH'The Good Wife', followed by a FRESH'The Mentalist'.
NBC opens the night with a RERUN'The Voice', followed by a FRESH'T-Rump's No-Star Flim Flam Fluffery'.
ABC begins the night with a RERUN'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', followed by a FRESH'Once Upon A Time', then a RERUN'Revenge', followed by a RERUN'Red Widow'.
The CW fills the night with what passes for local news and other fluffery.
Faux has RERUN'Bob's Burgers', followed by a FRESH'The Cleveland Show', then a FRESH'The Simpsons', followed by a FRESH'Bob's Burgers', then a FRESH'Family Guy', followed by a FRESH'American Dad'.
MY has an old 'How I Met Your Mother', followed by another old 'How I Met Your Mother', then an old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by another old 'Big Bang Theory', then still another old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by yet another old 'Big Bang Theory'.
AMC offers the movie 'True Lies', followed by the movie 'The Italian Job', then a FRESH'Mad Men'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] BLAME IT ON RIO
[8:00AM] PLANET EARTH-Ep 4 - Caves
[9:00AM] PLANET EARTH-Ep 5 - Deserts
[10:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES REVISITED UK - Season 2 - Ep 1 - La Riviera
[11:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 1 - Ep 10 - Dillon's
[12:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES UK - Season 2 - Ep 5 - Sandgate
[1:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF - SPECIALS-Season 7 - Episode 7
[2:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF - SPECIALS-Season 7 - Episode 8
[3:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF - SPECIALS-Season 7 - Episode 9
[4:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 06-07-Episode 1
[5:00PM] HOOK NEW
[8:00PM] ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES
[11:00PM] ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES
[2:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF - Season 7 - Episode 7
[3:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF - Season 7 - Episode 8
[4:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF - Season 7 - Episode 9
[5:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 06-07-Episode 1 (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', then a FRESH'Married To Medicine', and 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Get Him To The Greek', 'Gabriel Iglesias: Aloha Fluffy' (part 1), followed by the FRESH'Gabriel Iglesias: Aloha Fluffy' (part 2), and 'Gabriel Iglesias: Aloha Fluffy' (part 1).
FX has the movie 'Pineapple Express', followed by the movie 'The Green Hornet', then the movie 'The Green Hornet', again.
History has 'Pawn Stars', another 'Pawn Stars', 'Ax Men', followed by a FRESH'Ax Men', then a FRESH'Vikings'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)-And Now, the Sordid Personal Bits
[7:15AM] Bachelor Party
[9:30AM] Dilbert-The Competition
[10:00AM] Dilbert-The Prototype
[10:30AM] Dilbert-The Takeover
[11:00AM] Dilbert-Testing
[11:30AM] Dilbert-Elbonian Trip
[12:00PM] Arrested Development-Best Man for the GOB
[12:30PM] Arrested Development-Whistler's Mother
[1:00PM] Arrested Development-Not Without My Daughter
[1:30PM] Arrested Development-Let 'Em Eat Cake
[2:00PM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[2:15PM] The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
[4:00PM] The Freshman
[6:15PM] Domino
[9:00PM] Hostel
[11:00PM] Out There-Viking Days
[11:30PM] Out There-Frosty King
[12:00AM] Domino
[2:45AM] Out There-Viking Days
[3:15AM] Out There-Frosty King
[3:45AM] Escape From L.A. (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] Next Floor
[6:15AM] Change of Plans
[8:00AM] Buena Vista Social Club
[10:00AM] Ghost World
[12:00PM] Rescue Dawn
[2:15PM] A'mare
[2:30PM] The Killing Fields
[5:00PM] Top of the Lake-Episode 1
[6:00PM] Top of the Lake-Episode 2
[7:00PM] Top of the Lake-Episode 3
[8:00PM] Top of the Lake-Episode 4
[9:00PM] Top of the Lake-Episode 5
[10:00PM] The Natural
[12:15AM] A Good Year
[2:15AM] Lovely & Amazing
[4:00AM] Freaks and Geeks-Tests and Breasts
[5:00AM] Freaks and Geeks-I'm With the Band (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'V For Vendetta', followed by the movie 'The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers'.
Amid brass bands and a daytime fireworks display, the Netherlands' Queen Beatrix on Saturday officially reopened the Rijksmuseum, the country's national museum, after a 10-year, 375 million euro ($480 million) renovation.
The museum houses the largest collection of treasures from the Netherlands' cultural history, including works painted by Dutch masters Jan Steen, Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt van Rijn in the country's 17th-century Golden Age. Then the Netherlands was a major naval power and Amsterdam was one of the world's most influential and wealthy cities.
The renovation by Spanish architectural firm Cruz y Ortiz sought to bring light into the courtyards at the center of the 1885 brick structure, which resembles a fairytale castle. Meanwhile the museum's displays were completely redone to modern standards, with cultural items displayed alongside artwork from the same period - and sometimes even directly related to the art or artist.
Only one of the 8,000 works in the Rijksmuseum's collection returns to its original display position: Rembrandt's "The Night Watch," widely considered his greatest masterpiece. It sits at the end of the museum's main gothic-style Gallery of Honor, acting as the symbolic altarpiece of a secular church.
That enormous canvas - 4.35 meters wide and 3.79 meters high (14.86 x 12.43 feet) - portrays a company of Amsterdam volunteer militiamen, rather than a religious work.
U.S. singer Bruno Mars performs during his first concert in the Middle East at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre, April 12, 2013.
Photo by Jumana El Heloueh
It's a term Philip Glass never liked as a term for his musical style, and the rich complexity of "The Lost," his newest opera, proves those who insist on using it just plain wrong.
Written for the new Linz opera house, where it world-premiered Friday, "The Lost"- "Spuren der Verirrten" in the original German - is a strangely reassuring confirmation that although mankind has gone astray we are all in the same boat; that while all we do has no sense, that rule applies to all of us.
Life; death; fame; fortune; joy; tears. All human striving in vain. It's a story that has been told many times, in word, music, song and dance. "The Lost" combines all those threads and then some with magnificent result in what in some ways combines Samuel Becket's "Waiting for Godot," and Fritz Lang's "Metropolis."
Don't look for named characters. That would be too personal. Instead we have singer "A'' interacting with "B'' and so on. The fact that "A'' and "B'' are lost is clear from the very start, even as they mark the way they came.
A 2 million-year-old ancestor of man had a mixture of ape and human-like features that allowed it to hike vast distances on two legs with as much ease as it could scurry up trees, according to research published on Friday.
Discovered in cave near Johannesburg in 2008, the fossils of a species named "Australopithecus sediba" have given researchers clues about the evolution of man and which traits in our ancestors fell by the wayside.
Standing about 1.3 metres (4 ft) tall, sediba had a narrow rib cage similar to apes but a flexible spine more similar to that of a human. Its long arms and powerful torso helped in climbing, according to the research published in the journal Science.
Sediba's small heel resembled a chimpanzee's and it walked with an inward rotation of the knee and hip on slightly twisted feet with a flat-footed gait that would have helped it cover ground, the researchers said.
Participants play their cajons, a popular Peruvian instrument, during the International Festival of the Peruvian Cajon at Lima's Plaza Mayor, April 13, 2013. Almost 1,500 people took part in the event, playing the percussion instrument simultaneously, hoping to achieve a new world record for the world biggest cajon performance, according to organizers.
Photo by Mariana Bazo
Visitors to the elite feeder school for Cuba's renowned National Ballet might be forgiven for thinking they're suddenly seeing triple.
Identical triplets Angel, Cesar and Marcos Ramirez wear matching black leotards and white socks as they leap, prance and twirl across the linoleum floor of the mirrored studio. They share the same wiry build, olive complexion, mussed hairstyles and coffee-colored eyes. And they speak the same fast-paced Spanish in the high-pitched voice of children.
Even their instructors have trouble telling the Ramirez boys apart, but they say the 13-year-olds have already separated themselves from their peers technically and artistically, and all three have the talent to make a big splash in the ballet world when they grow up.
If they succeed, they will join a long line of celebrated dancers trained in Cuba, where fans from every social stratum follow the careers of ballet stars like Carlos Acosta and Rolando Sarabia as closely as those of baseball players or boxers.
The school was founded seven decades ago by famed prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso, now age 92, who is probably the most recognized person in Cuba not named "Castro."
A high school English teacher who had students pretend to be Jew-hating Nazis in a writing assignment has been placed on leave.
The teacher at Albany High School caused a storm of criticism after having students practice the art of persuasive writing by penning a letter to a fictitious Nazi government official arguing that "Jews are evil."
The writing assignment was done before a planned class reading of the memoir "Night," by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.
For the assignment, the teacher asked students to research Nazi propaganda, then write a letter trying to convince an official of the Third Reich "that Jews are evil and the source of our problems."
People visit a flower show featuring thousands of Kimilsungia flowers, named after the late leader Kim Il Sung, while models of a rocket and missiles are also displayed in Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, April 12, 2013.
Photo by Alexander F. Yuan
President Obama's teleprompter may be more valuable than even his biggest critics claim. After all, a man who stole Obama's teleprompter was sentenced to seven years in federal prison.
"The theft of government property is a serious offense," Assistant U.S. Attorney Roderick Young said during Virginia resident Eric Brown's sentencing hearing. "It's all the more serious when the property belongs to the White House Communications Agency."
Brown, 49, agreed to the lengthy sentence in order to avoid being prosecuted for 14 other truck thefts, according to NBC News. Virginia sentencing guidelines stipulated a prison term of about three years for the theft of government property.
Over the past 30 years, Brown has been convicted of 36 crimes.
The liberal super PAC from Kentucky that incurred the wrath of one of the country's most powerful Republicans is an organization of outsiders that has barely raised any funds toward its stated goal of ousting U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell from office in 2014.
While super PACs active in the 2012 elections were run by savvy political operatives raising millions from well-heeled contributors, Progress Kentucky is led by what one former state Democratic Party official described as "just a couple of activists" who are more intent on making a mockery of super PACs.
Progress Kentucky, created in December, has collected about $1,000 and spent $18, according to its latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. By contrast, McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, has raised a hefty $10 million toward his re-election effort, according to his FEC filing.
The group is being tied to a secret recording of a February campaign meeting held by McConnell in which his aides disparaged actress Ashley Judd. The aides laughed about Judd's past bouts with depression and discussed possibly using that against her, as well as her political positions and religious beliefs. She was considering a Senate bid at the time.
People observer as devotees erect a "lingo" a long wooden pole representing a phallus during the Bisket festival in Bhaktapur near Kathmandu April 13, 2013. The nine-day festival takes place over the Nepalese New Year, during which the devotees try to pull the chariot to their respective locations and the winners are believed to be blessed with good fortune for the coming year.
Photo by Navesh Chitrakar
The daughter of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev has bought the Greek resort island where shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis famously married Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s, Rybolovlev's investment office said.
The sale price was not disclosed. Greek media reports on Saturday placed the value of Skorpios island at over $100 million and said Ekaterina Rybolovleva, 24, wanted it not only for leisure but also business purposes.
She purchased Skorpios, in the Ionian Sea off western Greece, from Onassis' 28-year-old granddaughter, Athena Onassis Roussel, the only surviving descendant of the shipping magnate.
Onassis, his son Alexander, who was killed in an airplane crash aged 25, and Christina were buried on Skorpios. Athena Onassis Roussel was three when her mother died.
The mayor of the nearby island of Meganisi, Efstathios Zavitsanos, who is administratively responsible for Skorpios, said the deal was likely to be a long-term lease since, according to some lawyers, Aristotle Onassis's will stated that Skorpios could not be sold or leave the family.
Old Faithful's underground plumbing looks more like a bagpipe than a flute, a new study of the Yellowstone National Park geyser finds.
A big chamber sits about 50 feet (15 meters) underground, located southwest of Old Faithful, researchers report in a study published online March 30 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The exact size can't be determined, but they estimate the egg-shaped void is at least 50 feet (15 m) tall and 60 feet (18 m) wide. The cavern connects to a pipe angled about 24 degrees that feeds Old Faithful's maw.
Tiny tremors extracted from seismic records collected in the 1990s revealed the shape of the cavern and geyser conduit. Popping gas bubbles create the tremors. Not only do the tremors map the shape of underground spaces, they can also track water. For the first time, scientists have a clear view of how Old Faithful works underground.
Just after an eruption, there's a 15-minute recharge period with low water levels. Then for about 50 minutes, water levels rise and seismic activity increases. The chamber never empties, but as steam bubbles fill the chamber, they can oscillate water in the conduit, eventually leading to a violent steam explosion. The bubble trap is what helps Old Faithful splash with smaller eruptions before fully blowing its top.
The research is another nail in the coffin for the long-standing idea that big geysers erupt from long, narrow tubes. Earlier this year, researchers working in Kamchatka's Valley of the Geysers showed the Russian geysers also erupted from conduits fed by caverns. As with Old Faithful, the geysers explode because of underground bubble traps.
A windvane featuring a flying witch is held during an outdoor party celebrating the death of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, at Trafalgar Square in central London April 13, 2013.
Photo by Chris Helgren
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Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
The idea is to have fun.
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Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better, amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican hypocrites?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
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