from Bruce
Anecdotes
Work
• Because of British Broadcasting Corporation regulations, Sir Adrian Boult was forced to retire as conductor from the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1950 when he reached the age of 60. Sir Adrian resented his enforced retirement, which he regarded as being completely arbitrary. After his retirement, he accepted an invitation to serve as the orchestra’s guest conductor for a performance. At the beginning of the rehearsal, he looked at the clock and saw that its hands had stuck together. He then said, “Get the clock going, or I’ll stop the rehearsal in ten minutes’ time—when the clock says so.” BBC management took the threat seriously and removed the hands from the clock.
• We associate George Frideric Handel’s Messiah with Christmas, but during Handel’s lifetime, it was always performed during the seasons of Lent and Easter. Normally, theaters were closed during Lent, but Messiah was considered religious enough to be performed at that time. By the way, Mr. Handel was a Lutheran, although early in his career he worked as an organist in a Calvinist church. The Calvinists may have been willing to hire Mr. Handel, despite his religion, because the previous organist, Johann Christoph Leporin, frequently showed up to work drunk.
• Everyone believes that ballerinas lead a glamorous life, but it is hard work—and often low paying. Illaria Obidenna Ladré danced in the Diaghilev Ballet, where she was paid very little. She, like the other dancers, learned to brush her teeth when she was hungry but had no food to eat. By the way, Mr. Sergei Diaghilev, who was not supported by tax money, also suffered for his art. He had holes in his shoes and died with $6 in his pocket. (Many people are against the use of tax money to support the arts, but taxes are the price of civilization.)
• A man once asked R’ Pinchas of Koretz whether he would have a chance to enter the Garden of Eden, adding that in this life he had to work very hard but had nothing to show for it. R’ Pinchas asked if the man set aside time each day for studying the Torah, but the man replied that he did not. R’ Pinchas then said, “If in this world, where you labor and work so hard, you have nothing, then what do you expect to receive in the Garden of Eden, for which you are doing nothing?”
• Constance Benson (1860-1946) worked with actor Stephen Phillips in 1886, when he was no longer interested in his career. While playing Prospero in Shakespeare’s Tempest on stage, he pretended his wand was a fishing pole and dangled it over the orchestra pit. As the play proceeded, he murmured to Ms. Benson in asides which fish he had caught, and from which musical instrument he had caught them.
• When dancers Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis were touring, the towns they performed in began to blend together after a while, and sometimes they forgot where they were. Once, they reached for their tour list to find out the name of the town they were in, but they didn’t know the date, so the tour list was of no help. They ended up asking a policeman directing traffic, “Can you tell us the name of this town?”
• Richard Strauss was once shocked to hear that a former pupil had asked for a year’s leave from an orchestra in order to compose. According to Mr. Strauss, the pupil already had plenty of time to compose. Mr. Strauss reasoned that each day has 24 hours; therefore, once you take away eight hours for sleeping, and 12 hours for working, you still have four hours for composing.
• African-American opera singer Betty Allen was born in Campbell, Ohio. Her talent for hard work came in part from her mother, who during the Depression earned $30 a week as a washerwoman—a lot of money for the time. Ms. Allen says, “She had two Maytags going all the time, from six o’clock in the morning ’til midnight.”
• Gioacchino Rossini wrote and produced his opera buffa masterpiece, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, very quickly. In fact, it was composed—and rehearsed and staged—in less than a month. When Gaetano Donizetti, another fast worker, learned this, he said of Mr. Rossini, “Well, he always was lazy.”
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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
Track: "Getting Ready to Party"
Album: SUMMER FEELINGS, VOLUME 1
Artist: Brandon Harrod
Artist Location: Chicago, Illinois (by way of Tennessee)
Record Company: RTTB Records
Record Company Location: SH, Germany
Info:
“RTTB” means “Ramone To The Bone”
RTTB Records has low-cost or FREE Pop Punk compilations by various artists
Price: Name Your Price (Includes FREE) for 36 tracks by various artists
Genre: Pop Punk.
Links:
SUMMER FEELINGS, VOLUME 1
RTTB Records
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Reader Suggestion
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Black Catholic nuns
New Venture
Michael Egan
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
Ukraine
Ukrainian children surviving war with Russia without their parents - BBC News
Millions of Ukraine’s children have fled their homes since Russia invaded their country. The United Nations children's agency UNICEF estimates two thirds of the country's children are now displaced. For some, it’s an even harder journey, because they don’t have their parents with them. One children’s home on the eastern frontline in the city of Luhansk had to relocate hundreds of miles across the country to the western city of Lviv.
Accused Russian soldier 'rapist' identified by ITV News team | ITV News
The UK government is sending war crimes investigators to Ukraine following reports of sexual violence used by Russian troops.
A 16-year-old girl's testimony paints a picture of brutality by Russian soldiers (CNN)
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh speaks with 16-year-old Dasha, who says she was raped by a Russian soldier in her village in Ukraine's Kherson region. CNN cannot independently verify Dasha's story, but Ukrainian prosecutors in the Kherson region said in a statement they had investigated her account.
Orphaned girl was taken and used in Russian propaganda. Now, she tells her story (CNN)
Kira Obedinsky was orphaned by war. She was taken from her hometown of Mariupol to a hospital in a Russian-controlled area of eastern Ukraine. She has now been reunited in Kyiv with her grandfather, and she spoke to CNN for the first time about her ordeal. CNN's Matt Rivers reports.
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Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Had to do some tree trimming on the roof - wish I'd worn gloves.
WHCD Routine
Trevor Noah
Standing just a few feet away from the first President of the United States to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner since 2016, The Daily Show host Trevor Noah mixed the political with the pop culture to take an equal-opportunity dig at everyone tonight — including the people who pay him the big bucks.
“I actually get why CBS hired Mick Mulvaney,” Comedy Central-based Noah noted of the controversial contract handed out to one of Donald Trump’s former chiefs of staff. “He’s more than just a guy who assured everyone that Donald Trump would concede gracefully, he can also get you access to other people who assured you that Donald Trump would concede, it’s very important,” he added.
“So shout out to CBS, my corporate cousin,” Noah then went on to say at the so-called Nerd Prom with various CBS and Showtime brass in the Washington Hilton ballroom audience in front of him and a constantly laughing President Joe Biden. “You can actually find us on Paramount+ right between SpongeBob SquarePants and a bunch of movies even Delta’s in-flight entertainment system turned down,” the comedian said to hearty laughter from the crowd.
Making the expected swipes at the assembled politicians, especially Florida’s governor and 2024 hopeful Ron DeSantis, the short shelf life of CNN+, the resignation of Jeff Zucker, fired Chris Cuomo’s grab for big bucks, and more, NYC-set Noah wasted little time dragging up the biggest entertainment story of the year from out of Los Angeles.
“I’ve actually been a little worried about tonight. What if I make a really mean joke about Kellyanne Conway, and then her husband rushes up on the stage and thanks me?”
Trevor Noah
Fans’ Ballot Final Tally
Rock Hall
After over 5 million votes were cast, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame fans’ ballot closed Friday with Duran Duran, Eminem and Pat Benatar finishing atop the leaderboard.
Duran Duran, a first-time Rock Hall nominee in 2022 despite years of eligibility, dominated the fans ballot, with the British band garnering nearly 934,000 votes. That’s 250,000 more votes than the Number Two artist on the fan ballot, Eminem, who enjoyed a big turnout despite the debate over his nomination.
Finishing just 50,000 votes behind Eminem was two-time nominee Benatar, and then there was a drop-off for the final two spots: At Number Four was the Eurythmics with over 440,000 votes, followed in fifth place by Dolly Parton, who has — in recent months — withdrew from Rock Hall consideration only to reconsider her stance this week.
(Finishing just outside the Top 5: Three-time nominee Judas Priest, Carly Simon and Lionel Richie, both of whom are on the ballot for the first time in 2022.)
Despite the millions of votes, winning the fan ballot does not ensure Rock Hall induction: “The top five artists, as selected by the public, will comprise a ‘fans’ ballot’ that will be tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2022 inductees,” the Rock Hall said of the ballot.
Rock Hall
‘That ’70s Show’ Spinoff
‘That ’90s Show’
Most of the cast of “That ’70s Show” is coming back for “That ’90s Show” at Netflix, Variety has learned.
Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Wilmer Valderrama are all set to make guest appearances in the spinoff series, once again playing their characters from the original series. The only main cast member not returning is Danny Masterson, who played Hyde, as he is preparing to stand trial on multiple sexual assault allegations.
As previously announced, Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp are set to star in “That ’90s Show,” reprising the roles of Red and Kitty Forman. They will be joined by new cast members Ashley Aufderheide, Callie Haverda, Mace Coronel, Maxwell Acee Donovan, Reyn Doi, and Sam Morelos.
In the new show, it’s 1995 and Leia Forman (Haverda), daughter of Eric (Grace) and Donna (Prepon), is visiting her grandparents for the summer, where she bonds with a new generation of Point Place kids under the watchful eye of Kitty and the stern glare of Red.
‘That ’90s Show’
Savannah Foundation Saves Home
Virginia Jackson Kiah
A nonprofit group plans to restore a Savannah home used by a Black artist to establish her own museum during segregation.
The Historic Savannah Foundation bought the former home of Virginia Jackson Kiah to save it from demolition. Neighbors in the surrounding Cuyler-Brownsville neighborhood applauded the move, saying it’s important to keep Kiah’s legacy alive.
Kiah used the home to start her own museum in 1959 because, as a Black woman during segregation, she wasn’t allowed to enter other museums as a visitor, much less to exhibit her artwork. She became known as a civil rights activist in Savannah, where the Savannah College of Art and Design now has an art museum named for her.
The house deteriorated following Kiah’s death in 2001 and faced a risk of being torn down. The Historic Savannah Foundation was able to close on the property recently following a two-year legal battle in probate court.
The foundation hopes to restore the building to its 1950s appearance, and plans to get feedback from the community before making any final decisions. Meanwhile, supporters of the project plan to install a historic marker at the home on May 9.
Virginia Jackson Kiah
‘Most Racist Show in the History of Cable News’ - NY Times
Little Tucker
Tucker Carlson’s Fox "News" program “may be the most racist show in the history of cable news — and also, by some measures, the most successful,” according to a New York Times series published Saturday.
Investigative reporter Nicholas Confessore’s three-part series “American Nationalist” investigates how the right-wing host seized upon the “white fear” and white nationalism stoked by the Trump administration to rack up ratings.
The series begins with selections from Carlson’s “encyclopedia of provocations,” citing his remarks about immigrants, Black Lives Matter protesters and refugees. It also dives into his ardent defense of the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol, as well as Vladimir Putin throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
An analysis of 1,150 episodes of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” revealed how Carlson has popularized “dog-whistle” terms like “legacy Americans” that had once been relegated to white nationalist publications.
The article continues, “With seeming impunity, Mr. Carlson has used his broadcast to attack Fox’s own news coverage helping drive some journalists off the air and others, like the veteran Fox anchor Shepard Smith, to leave the network entirely. In Australia, the editors of some Murdoch-owned newspapers watch Mr. Carlson’s show religiously, believing it provides clues to Mr. Murdoch’s own views. According to former senior Fox employees, Mr. Carlson boasts of rarely speaking with Fox’s chief executive, Suzanne Scott, but talking or texting regularly with Mr. Murdoch. And in an extraordinary departure from the old Fox code, Mr. Carlson is exempt from the network’s fearsome media relations department, which under Roger Ailes, Fox’s founder, served to both defend the channel’s image and keep its talent in line.”
Little Tucker
Surged 80% This Year
Measles
Measles cases have surged by nearly 80 percent worldwide this year, the UN said Wednesday, warning that the rise of the "canary in a coal mine" illness indicates that outbreaks of other diseases are likely on the way.
The coronavirus pandemic has interrupted vaccination campaigns for non-COVID diseases around the world, creating a "perfect storm" that could put millions of children's lives at risk, the UN's children's agency UNICEF and the World Health Organization said in a statement.
More than 17,300 measles cases were reported globally in January and February, compared to around 9,600 during those months last year, according to new data from the UN agencies.
There have been 21 large and disruptive measles outbreaks in the last 12 months to April, most of them in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, the data showed.
There are also fears that the war in Ukraine could spark a resurgence in the country after it recorded Europe's highest rate of measles between 2017 and 2019.
Measles
Cow Burps
California
Satellites have detected methane emissions from belching cows at a California feedlot, marking the first time emissions from livestock - a major component of agricultural methane - could be measured from space.
Environmental data firm GHGSat this month analyzed data from its satellites and pinpointed the methane source from a feedlot in the agricultural Joaquin Valley near Bakersfield, California in February.
This is significant, according to GHGSat, because agricultural methane emissions are hard to measure and accurate measurement is needed to set enforceable reduction targets for the beef-production industry.
GHGSat said the amount of methane it detected from that single feedlot would result in 5,116 tonnes of methane emissions if sustained for a year. If that methane were captured, it could power over 15,000 homes, it said.
Agriculture contributes 9.6% to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and about 36% of methane emissions, mostly from livestock.
California
Tectonic Plates
Ancient Crystals
Tiny crystals unearthed in South Africa contain evidence of a sudden transition on the planet's surface 3.8 billion years ago.
These crystals, each no bigger than a grain of sand, show that around that time, Earth's crust broke up and began moving — a precursor to the process known as plate tectonics.
The findings offer clues about Earth's evolution as a planet, and could help answer questions about potential links between plate tectonics and the evolution of life, said study lead author Nadja Drabon, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Harvard University.
Nowadays, jigsaw pieces of rigid crust float on a viscous, hot ocean of magma in the mantle, Earth's middle layer. These pieces of crust grind against each other, dive beneath each other at so-called subduction zones and push each other up, creating mountains and ocean ridges, forging volcanoes and triggering the earthquakes that regularly rock the planet. The sinking of tectonic plates also produces new rocks at subduction zones, which interact with the atmosphere to suck up carbon dioxide. This process makes the atmosphere more hospitable for life and keeps the climate more stable, Drabon said.
But things weren't always this way. When Earth was young and hot, during the Hadean eon (4.6 billion to 4 billion years ago), the planet was first covered with a magma ocean and then, as the planet cooled, a solid rock surface.
Ancient Crystals
Living With Antarctica Penguin Colony
ECHO, The Robot
It's a story of unlikely friendship. A small research robot is currently living with an Emperor penguin colony in Antarctica, providing vital information for researchers in Cape Cod, CBS Boston reports.
ECHO, the robot, belongs to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and rolls around the tundra collecting data used to study marine ecosystems.
The small robot takes readings and collects data like a normal researcher, but his existence allows researchers to collect real-time information year round and minimize the impact their presence could have on the animals' lives.
Researchers say the penguins seem to be getting along swimmingly with the robot.
"The really cool thing is if I as a human would try to get as close as ECHO, they would be running away," the Marine Animal Remote Sensing Lab's Daniel Zitterbart told Popular Science. "We don't want to scare the animals. Our general aim is to do more science with less impact. And humans have much bigger impact on the animals than the robot actually has."
ECHO, The Robot
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