from Bruce
Anecdotes
Children
• A little boy had been naughty, so as punishment he was sent to bed after supper and was not allowed to watch his favorite TV program. His mother told him as he went to his room, “Pray to God so you can be a good boy tomorrow.” “Why?” asked the little boy. “What’s on TV tomorrow?”
Christmas
• In Philadelphia, the Old First Reformed Church, United Church of Christ, always has a Christmas program in which a newborn baby from the congregation portrays the baby Jesus in a scene set in the manger. If a woman in the congregation gives birth to a girl, then Jesus is portrayed by a girl. If an African-American woman in the congregation gives birth, then Jesus is portrayed by an African-American baby. If a Hispanic woman in the congregation gives birth, then Jesus is portrayed by a Hispanic baby. One year, a woman in the congregation gave birth to twins, so Jesus was portrayed by twins.
• Comedian Lou Costello enjoyed trimming the Christmas tree by himself late on Christmas Eve after his children had gone to bed. One year, he arrived home very late on Christmas Eve because he had been detained at the radio station where The Abbott and Costello Program was produced, and he saw that the butler had decorated the tree. Mr. Costello was so disappointed that he went to his bedroom and cried.
• A Sunday School class taught by Rolf E. Aaseng participated in a Christmas program that celebrated Jesus, the Light of the World. Four members of the class were supposed to carry large cardboard letters on stage to spell out the word STAR, but they got mixed up and displayed the letters in reverse order: RATS.
• Michael Moore, the director of Roger and Me, went Christmas caroling in 1998 at the homes of the CEOs of the top tobacco companies. He took along with him the Awful Truth Choir, whose members have lost their voice boxes (aka larynxes) because they smoked.
Church
• As a young pastor, William Woughter wanted to set new attendance records at his church. Therefore, he got hold of a number of old vinyl records and promised that whoever brought the most visitors to church on Sunday could publicly break a record over his head. Things went well for the first four Sundays — attendance was booming, and the records broke easily (pun definitely intended). On the fifth and final record-breaking Sunday, a young boy proudly led 27 visitors into the church. However, when the young boy took hold of the record and tried to break it over Pastor William’s head, the record refused to break — despite the boy’s several valiant attempts to break it. Later, a bruised Pastor William discovered that this particular record had been made with an unbreakable metal core.
• The Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, used to have a problem with parking. Nearby were two other places of worship: the Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King and the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip. Parking was hard to come by, and since these two churches met for worship earlier than the Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, the Catholics and Episcopalians used to park in the parking lot of the Baptist Church, resulting in a lack of parking spaces for the Baptists when they arrived for worship. Fortunately, the Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church was able to solve the problem. Members of the Baptist Church simply put these bumper stickers on all the cars in its parking lot: “I’m Proud to Be a Southern Baptist.”
• Lots of people complain that churches don’t have the facilities to compete with worldly entertainments, but country comedian Jerry Clower remembers offering to let his 14-year-old daughter (Sue) and one of her friends go with him on a trip to Hollywood, where they could meet celebrities Lorne Greene, David Janssen, Dinah Shore, and Mel Tillis. She told him, “Daddy, I love you and I’m so glad that you would arrange it to where me and one of my friends could go on this trip, but daddy, there’s something going on at the church activities building I don’t want to miss. I won’t be able to go with you this time.” When Mr. Clower heard his daughter say this, tears came to his eyes and he said, “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.”
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. replied:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Some Love"
Album: BLUES FROM THE IRENE BUILDING
Artist: Andy Baylor
Artist Location: Melbourne, Australia
Info: “Andy Baylor was born in Melbourne in 1954 and is a highly respected, influential Australian musician known for his multi-instrumental skills, song-writing and versatility. Andy’s early life was spent living in St Kilda with his father, Jack Freeman, a leading social realist artist before eventually settling with his mother, politician Gracia Baylor, in the small mountain town of Healesville.”
Andy Baylor, but this is not “Some Love.”
Price: $2 (AUS) for track: $20 (AUS) for 12-track album
Genre: Alternative
Links:
BLUES FROM THE IRENE BUILDING
Andy Baylor on Bandcamp
Andy Baylor Official Website
Other Links:
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David Bruce's Blog #1
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
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
Marine layer so thick it never burned off.
U.S. Version
Eurovision
An American version of Eurovision, the biggest international singing competition, is heading to NBC.
The broadcaster has boarded American Song Contest, which is being produced by the team behind the Eurovision Song Contest, Propagate and Universal Television Alternative Studio. It is expected to air midseason or summer on NBC.
Last August, the organizers of Eurovision, which is somewhat of a campy affair that sees singers from different European countries compete against each other in a sing off, revealed that they were plotting an American version.
The U.S. version will feature live original musical performances, representing all 50 states, five U.S. territories and our nation’s capital, competing to win the country’s vote for the Best Original Song.
Eurovision, which is organized by the European Broadcasting Union, has been running for 65 years. This year’s event, which is held in the Netherlands, will hold its final on May 22.
Eurovision
In Talks
Tiffany Haddish
Earlier this week it was reported that Ellen DeGeneres would be ending her longtime-running talk show. Now it appears that Tiffany Haddish may already be in talks to take over her throne.
Haddish, who is easily one of the hardest working women in show business, is no stranger to DeGeneres’s audience and has frequently filled in for the industry vet when she’s on vacation, most recently this past April, and before that, last October.
Now a senior NBCUniversal source has reportedly revealed to Page Six, “Tiffany is a favorite, she has humor and empathy in spades.”
“DeGeneres owns the rights to her show, which is syndicated and produced by Warner Bros. so it’s impossible to replace her without launching a fresh format with a new host,” Page Six wrote in their report.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which started airing in 2003, and is distributed by Warner Bros., has a mix of dancing, games, and giveaways along with A-list celebrities. But the host, who built her brand on the motto “Be Kind,” opened season 18 in September with a lengthy apology.
Tiffany Haddish
On ‘American Beauty’ Poster
Christina Hendricks
Christina Hendricks says it usually comes as a shock to most of her fans, but she has a connection to the 1999 film American Beauty.
The actress, best known as fan-favorite Joan Holloway on the iconic AMC series Mad Men, dropped by The Rich Eisen Show on Friday to talk about her celebrated career.
Going through a fact or fiction portion of their chat, Eisen asked if it was true Hendricks is on the America Beauty poster. The actress said it was true, but only a portion of the entire image is her.
“I used to be a model and one of the gigs that I got was to go and shoot a movie poster,” Hendricks explained. “I had no idea what the film was. There were two models, myself and one other. We did different versions of her hand, her stomach, and my stomach and her hand, and my hand and both. My hand made it in and her stomach made it in.”
She continued, “I did a few gigs where I did some hand modeling. I was a ballet dancer, so I guess I know how to move my hands in an elegant fashion. It was just a plain, ole gig. I probably got paid $100 or something. I was just thrilled to have a job. I didn’t know what American Beauty was going to be. And then I finally saw and was like, ‘Hey, that’s my hand!’ I thought very little about it for a very long time.”
Christina Hendricks
Three-Day Auction
Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson’s ensembles she wore in the “Scream” music video opposite of her brother Michael Jackson are among the items up for bid in a three-day auction.
Julien’s Auctions says her black circular bubble textured fabric long-sleeve shirt, black patent leather pants and black patent leather over-the-ankle boots sold for $125,000 Saturday. The auction called “Iconic Treasures From the Legendary Career and Life of Janet Jackson” will be held until Sunday, the singer’s 55th birthday.
Jackson partnered with Juilen’s Auctions to sell more than 1,000 items from her career and personal treasures. The auction was held live in Beverly Hills, California, and shown on Julien’s website.
Jackson’s floor-length metallic silver coat with lambskin shearling lining, cuffs and collar, designed by Helen Storey, was bought for $50,000. Her silver string bikini and a pair of matching pants worn underneath the coat by Jackson sold for $25,600.
Other items such as Jackson’s silver-tone hoop earring suspending a key worn at the 1987 Soul Train Awards and her Rhythm Nation Tour sold for $43,750.
Janet Jackson
Media Intentionally Attacked
Gaza
An Israeli airstrike on Saturday destroyed a high-rise building that housed The Associated Press office in the Gaza Strip, despite repeated urgent calls from the news agency to the military to halt the impending attack. AP called the strike “shocking and horrifying.”
Twelve AP staffers and freelancers were working and resting in the bureau on Saturday afternoon when the Israeli military telephoned a warning, giving occupants of the building one hour to evacuate. Everyone was able to get out, grabbing a few belongings, before three heavy missiles struck the 12-story building, collapsing it into a giant cloud of dust.
Although no one was hurt, the airstrike demolished an office that was like a second home for AP journalists and marked a new chapter in the already rocky relationship between the Israeli military and the international media. Press-freedom groups condemned the attack. They accused the military, which claimed the building housed Hamas military intelligence, of trying to censor coverage of Israel’s relentless offensive against Hamas militants.
Ahead of the demolition, the AP placed urgent calls to the Israeli military, foreign minister and prime minister’s office but were either ignored or told that there was nothing to be done.
For 15 years, the AP’s top-floor office and roof terrace were a prime location for covering Israel’s conflicts with Gaza’s Hamas rulers, including wars in 2009, 2012 and 2014. The news agency’s camera offered 24-hour live shots as militants’ rockets arched toward Israel and Israeli airstrikes hammered the city and its surrounding area this week.
Gaza
Growing Number Downplay Jan. 6
What
Flouting all evidence and their own first-hand experience, a small but growing number of Republican lawmakers are propagating a false portrayal of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, brazenly arguing that the rioters who used flagpoles as weapons, brutally beat police officers and chanted that they wanted to hang Vice President Mike Pence were somehow acting peacefully in their violent bid to overturn Joe Biden’s election.
Insurrection Failed Coup?
One Republican at a hearing Wednesday called the rioters a “mob of misfits.” Another compared them to tourists. And a third suggested the sweeping federal investigation into the riot — which has yielded more than 400 arrests and counting — amounts to a national campaign of harassment.
It’s a turn of events that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, another target of the rioters, called “appalling” and “sick,” and it raises the possibility that the public’s understanding of the worst domestic attack on Congress in 200 years — an attack that was captured extensively on video — could become distorted by the same kinds of disinformation that fueled former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election. It was the lie about the election that motivated the rioters in the first place.
“I don’t know of a normal day around here when people are threatening to hang the vice president of the United States or shoot the speaker, or injure so many police officers,” said Pelosi, who has pushed for a bipartisan commission to investigate the riots.
The hearing Wednesday was supposed to be the latest dive by congressional investigators into the chaos of Jan. 6 — the missed warning signs, confusion and delays that allowed the rioters to terrorize the Capitol for an entire afternoon. But several Republicans used their rounds of questioning not to pepper the witnesses with questions but to downplay the brutal assault on America’s seat of democracy.
What Insurrection Failed Coup?
Rebuked Some Colleagues
Mittens
Sen. Mitt Romney called the Capitol attack "an insurrection against the Constitution" following remarks from fellow Republicans trying to downplay the events of January 6.
The Republican senator from Utah was responding to a question from HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic about a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday regarding police preparation during the attack.
Several Republicans spoke out during the hearing to downplay the riots with dismissive comments and baseless claims. GOP Rep. Andrew Clyde said accurately describing the insurrection as such constituted a "bold-faced lie" and compared the pro-Trump mob to tourists.
Bobic on Thursday asked Romney for his response to Republicans "trying to rewrite history" about the January 6 riot.
"Well, I was there," Romney said. "And what happened was a violent effort to interfere with and prevent the constitutional order of installing a new president, and as such it was an insurrection against the Constitution, it resulted in severe property damage, severe injuries and death."
Mittens
Attempts Russian Stand-Up Routine
Spawn
The son of Rudy Guiliani (R-Serial Philanderer) has claimed that Americans no longer want to live in the US after the two FBI raids on the former New York mayor’s residence and office on 28 April.
Speaking to state-owned Russia Today, Andrew Guiliani (R-Stereotype) claimed that he has heard from people on both sides of the political aisle that the Department of Justice treatment of his father is making them rethink their country of residence.
“So it’s been people who have been very strong Trump supporters and some who have not been Trump supporters. They don’t want to live in a country where you’re going to have a Justice Department that is going to politicize something to the point where a former president’s personal counsel is going actually be spied on by the Justice Department,” he told Scottie Nell Hughes.
He also made the allegation that his father’s iCloud had been hacked, a spurious claim, to say the least, given that the FBI obtained a search warrant for the raids.
“It’s absolutely absurd to think that the President of the United States’ lawyer, where they have privileged information between the two of them, that iCloud account would be hacked into by the Department of Justice is absolutely absurd. When that can happen to the President’s attorney that can happen to anyone of us,” Andrew Giuliani added.
Spawn
Secretive World
Superyachts
News that Jeff Bezos has bought a "superyacht" has revived interest in the secretive world of the uber-rich globetrotters who enjoy these ultimate status symbols. Experts say the superyacht industry has been booming for years, even during the global economic slowdown caused by the pandemic.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the world's richest man, has seen his personal wealth roughly double since 2017, helped by his wallet ballooning last year as more people than ever turned to online shopping.
And through it all, shipyards have continued turning out mega yachts that experts say are growing larger as they gain in popularity. According to experts and brokers, 2020 saw more yachts sold than ever before, with 2021 set to again break sales records.
It is estimated to cost about $500m (£350m), a drop in the ocean for the world's richest man, whose wealth at one point jumped $13bn in a single day in 2020. His estimated net worth now stands at nearly $200bn.
That price tag does not include a smaller motorised "support yacht" that Bezos also plans to buy. The smaller yacht features a helicopter landing pad - Bezos' girlfriend, TV host Lauren Sanchez, is a trained helicopter pilot.
Superyachts
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