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from Bruce
Lily Kuo: "Bill Nye, The Science Guy, Says Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children (Reuters)
Scientist and children's television personality Bill Nye, in a newly released online video, panned biblical creationism and implored American parents who reject the scientific theory of evolution not to teach their beliefs to their youngsters.
Kate Bevan: Why do I have to switch off my Kindle for takeoff and landing? (Guardian)
E-readers are now vital holiday accessories for many of us. But why aren't we allowed to read them on planes at the beginning and end of flights?
Shirley Jinkins: "Randy Travis: Has country hero fallen?" (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Tioga, Texas, is best-known as the birthplace of Gene Autry, a peaceful landscape of wide pastures, grazing horses, two-lane country roads and friendly people. It's the kind of place where even well-known country music star Randy Travis can settle into a quiet existence and maybe find some healing if he happens to need it.
Roger Ebert: "Great Movie: 'Cleo from 5 to 7'"
In France, the afternoon hours from five to seven are known as the hours when lovers meet. On this afternoon, nothing could be further from Cleo's mind than sex. She is counting out the minutes until she learns the results from tests she believes will tell her she is dying from cancer. Agnes Varda's "Cleo from 5 to 7" is 90 minutes long, but its clock seems to tick along with Cleo's.
Roger Ebert: Review of "Compliance" (3 stars)
In the case of "Compliance," the walk-outs aren't because it's a bad movie, but because it's all too effective at exposing the human tendency to cave in to authority.
Richard Roeper: True tale 'Compliance' provokes visceral reaction from viewers
You watch "Compliance" and you think: I'd never do that. I'd never put up with that. I know that's how I felt when I saw it. Yet dozens of people in dozens of states really did fall for hoaxes just like the one portrayed in the film. And that's more disturbing than anything we see onscreen.
Paul Lester: "Stevie Wonder: 'I never thought of being blind and black as a disadvantage'" (Guardian)
He has survived car crashes, death threats and 50 years in the music industry. Ahead of his Bestival show, the soul legend talks about Motown, Jacko and Winehouse.
Jody Rosen: "Top of the Pops: Taylor Swift, 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'" (Slate)
Who exactly is getting kicked to the curb in "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"? A boyfriend? Or Nashville?
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David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
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Selected Readings
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Almost back to seasonal.
White House Releases Beer Recipes
'Ale to the Chief'
Tapping into an outpouring of public interest, the White House on Saturday made its beer recipes public - giving hope to any Americans interested in having a hair of the first dog after joining the coalition of the swilling.
Sam Kass, White House Assistant Chef and the Senior Policy Advisor for the Healthy Food Initiative, decanted the recipes in an early-afternoon blog post entitled "Ale to the Chief" and brimming with boozy puns ("With public excitement about White House beer fermenting such a buzz, we decided we better hop to it").
The White House went public a long time ago with its brewing operation - the first of its kind in the presidential mansion - but interest came to a head recently when it was revealed that President Barack Obama had brought some of the beers with him on a recent campaign swing through Iowa. Obama had several cold ones on that trip and supporters even rewarded him at one point with cries of "Four More Beers!" Perhaps intoxicated by the attention, press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that he had sampled the White House brew and declared it "superb."
Here, then, are the recipes ( www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/08/29/ale-chief-white-house-beer-recipe )
'Ale to the Chief'
Makes The Rounds
'Eastwooding'
Clint Eastwood was the surprise speaker at the Republican convention. And the "Dirty Harry" actor's rambling speech didn't make everybody's day. The 82-year-old gave an ad-libbed talk to an empty chair on stage that was supposed to be President Obama-or where he was sitting-or something.
It didn't take long for Obama's furniture stand-in to take on a life of its own. Cue the "Eastwooding" Web meme.
From Brent Spiner ?@BrentSpiner, "After watching Clint Eastwood's speech last night at the RNC, I'm voting for the chair. "
Chris Rock (yes, that Chris Rock) ?@chrisrockoz posted, "Clint Eastwood on the phone with Obama now: 'It all went according to plan,sir.'"
@BorowitzReport wrote, "A new poll reveals that Romney trails Clint Eastwood's empty chair after convention."
'Eastwooding'
Set To Open In Downtown Las Vegas
Neon Museum
After talking, planning and collecting iconic Las Vegas casino, motel and store signs since 1996, the Neon Museum finally has an opening date.
The 2-acre resting place for more than 150 brightly lighted signs, known for years as the Neon Boneyard, is expected to open to the public for foot tours Oct. 27, after its keepers finish converting the lobby of the old La Concha motel into a visitor center and shop.
The La Concha embodies an era before the Strip became dominated by large corporations and video walls. Its distinctive clamshell shape, dating to 1961, stood next to the Riviera hotel-casino. It was moved several miles up Las Vegas Boulevard six years ago.
The museum near Cashman Center just north of downtown Las Vegas has been generating revenue for a couple of years by offering $15 tours for about 80 to 100 people a day. But Marion told the Las Vegas Review-Journal (http://bit.ly/NC6ked ) that limited capacity has forced the museum to turn away about 20 people a day.
The museum board now aims for a first-year operating budget of $1 million. Tours will be every half hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Tickets will be $18 for adults and $12 for seniors, students, locals and veterans. Children 6 and under will get in free. Souvenirs and rentals for photo shoots or receptions also will be offered.
Neon Museum
First-Ever Saudi Film
Venice
Haifaa Al Mansour has the distinction of being the first person to ever film a movie in Saudi Arabia, never mind that she's a woman.
Al Mansour's "Wadjda," which premiered this week out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, is about a 10-year-old girl who dreams of having a bicycle so she can race a neighborhood boy. But the dream is just a little too subversive for a deeply conservative Muslim society where women live segregated existences and girls around Wadjda's age are expected to begin fully covering their faces when in public.
Despite having support within the Saudi royal family, Al Mansour said she had to cope with limits present within society. For example, severe restrictions on the mingling of men and women created challenges in directing male actors in outdoor scenes, she said.
"I had to stay in a van and talk through a telephone sometimes or through the producer," she told a news conference.
Venice
Church "200 Years Out Of Date"
Vatican't
The former archbishop of Milan and papal candidate Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini said the Catholic Church was "200 years out of date" in his final interview before his death, published on Saturday.
Martini, once favored by Vatican progressives to succeed Pope John Paul II and a prominent voice in the church until his death at the age of 85 on Friday, gave a scathing portrayal of a pompous and bureaucratic church failing to move with the times.
"Our culture has aged, our churches are big and empty and the church bureaucracy rises up, our rituals and our cassocks are pompous," Martini said in the interview published in Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
"The Church must admit its mistakes and begin a radical change, starting from the pope and the bishops. The pedophilia scandals oblige us to take a journey of transformation," he said in the interview.
Martini, famous for comments that the use of condoms could be acceptable in some cases, told interviewers the Church should open up to new kinds of families or risk losing its flock.
Vatican't
3 Theories
Palin
In 2008, Sarah Palin was the star of the GOP convention. For this year's RNC, she couldn't even secure an appearance on the cable news network that employs her
Sarah Palin's increasingly testy relationship with Fox News took a turn for the worse this week, when she wrote on her Facebook page that the cable news channel had canceled interviews she had been scheduled to give during the network's coverage of the Republican convention. Palin was supposed to appear on Fox on Wednesday, the same night that Paul Ryan, her successor as the GOP's vice-presidential candidate, was speaking. Fox executives say Palin got cut simply because time was tight after the convention was condensed from four days to three in the wake of Hurricane Isaac. But this is far from the first public clash between the former Alaska governor and her employer. What's the real story behind the souring relationship? Here, three theories:
1. Palin is not the star she was when Fox hired her
Four years ago, Palin was the darling of the GOP, says Scott Paulson at Examiner.com, but she threw that away when she quit her job as governor of Alaska. She's "not even a politician anymore." Face it: With her relevance in the Republican Party fading, Palin's "extended 15 minutes" of fame are running out. And fame is what made her valuable to Fox.
For the rest - Palin
Grave Found Under Parking Lot
King Richard III
The search for the long-lost remains of King Richard III in Leicester, England, has turned up traces of what may be the church where the slain monarch was buried.
Leicester University archaeologists announced today (Aug. 31) that their excavations in a city council parking lot have turned up medieval window tracery, glazed floor tile fragments and medieval roof tile. The high-quality materials suggest that the team is indeed digging around the Greyfriars church, where Richard III is said to be buried.
"Today, what we are saying is that we have found the Greyfriars and have uncovered tantalizing clues as to the location of the church," Richard Buckley, who co-directs the University of Leicester Archaeological Services, said in a statement. "It has gone about as well as we could hope for."
Richard III was King of England from 1483 to 1485. He died during the Battle of Bosworth Field during the War of the Roses, an English civil war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. Richard III was the last English king to die in battle. Shakespeare penned "Richard III," a play about the tragic king, approximately 100 years later.
King Richard III
Director's Inspiration
'The Master'
Director Paul Thomas Anderson acknowledges that Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard was the inspiration for the title character in "The Master," but says the focus of the film is the relationship between a charismatic spiritual leader and his troubled follower, not the movement itself.
The movie, set in the 1950s, stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a charismatic cult leader who captivates a tortured but sympathetic World War II veteran portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix.
"The narrative is just driven by these two guys, and their love for each other," Anderson told a news conference on Saturday ahead of the highly anticipated film's world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival.
Anderson sought to quickly dispel any speculation about the film's influence on his friendship with Tom Cruise, who starred in Anderson's 1999 film "Magnolia" and whose Scientology beliefs are well-documented.
'The Master'
Discovered Beneath Living Room
Medieval Well
Nearly 25 years after they moved into their home, an English couple has discovered a 33-foot-deep medieval well beneath their living room floor.
"I was replacing the joists in the floor when I noticed a slight depression-it appeared to be filled in with the foundations of the house," Colin Steer told the London Telegraph. The discovery has led Sheer to explore the history of his property, located in the city of Plymouth, near the south coast of Devon, England.
After receiving permission from his wife, Steer dug some 17 feet down into the well, which plans show dates to the 16 century.
"I dug down about one foot but my wife just wanted to me to cover it back up because we had three children running around at the time," he said. "I always wanted to dig it out to see if I could find a pot of gold at the bottom, so when I retired at the end of last year that's what I started to do."
Medieval Well
In Memory
Hal David
Hal David, the stylish, heartfelt lyricist who teamed with Burt Bacharach on dozens of timeless songs for movies, television and a variety of recording artists in the 1960s and beyond, has died. He was 91.
David died of complications from a stroke Saturday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to his wife Eunice David.
He had suffered a major stroke in March and was stricken again on Tuesday, she said.
Bacharach and David were among the most successful teams in modern history, with top 40 hits including "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," ''Close to You" and "That's What Friends Are For." Although most associated with Dionne Warwick, their music was recorded by many of the top acts of their time, from the Beatles and Barbra Streisand to Frank Sinatra and Aretha Franklin. They won an Oscar for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (from the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), Grammys and Tonys for the songs from the hit Broadway musical "Promises, Promises."
David joined the board of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 1974 and served as president 1980 to 1986. He was head of the Songwriters Hall of Fame from 2001 to 2011, and was Chairman Emeritus at his death.
In May, Bacharach and David received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song during a White House tribute concert attended by President Barack Obama.
Bacharach, 83, thanked Obama, saying the award for his life's work topped even the Oscars and Grammys he won for individual projects. David could not attend because he is recovering from a stroke. Eunice David accepted on his behalf.
David and Bacharach met when both worked in the Brill Building, New York's legendary Tin Pan Alley song factory where writers cranked out songs and attempted to sell them to music publishers. They scored their first big hit with "Magic Moments," a million-selling record for Perry Como.
In 1962 they began writing for a young singer named Dionne Warwick, whose versatile voice conveyed the emotion of David's lyrics and easily handled the changing patterns of Bacharach's melodies. Together the trio created a succession of popular songs including "Don't Make Me Over," ''Walk On By," ''I Say a Little Prayer," ''Do You Know the Way to San Jose," ''Trains and Boats and Planes," ''Anyone Who Has a Heart," ''You'll Never Get to Heaven" and "Always Something There to Remind Me," a hit in the 1980s for the synth pop band Naked Eyes.
Bacharach and David also wrote hits for numerous other singers: "This Guy's in Love with You" (trumpeter Herb Alpert in his vocal debut), "Make It Easy on Yourself" (Jerry Butler), "What the World Needs Now is Love" (Jackie DeShannon) and "Wishin' and Hopin'" (Dusty Springfield). They also turned out title songs for the movies "What's New, Pussycat" (Tom Jones), "Wives and Lovers" (Jack Jones) and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" (Gene Pitney).
The writer, who lived in New York, often flew to Los Angeles, where he and Bacharach would hole up for a few weeks of intense songwriting. Sometimes they conferred by long-distance telephone; "I Say a Little Prayer" was written that way.
The hit-making team broke up after the 1973 musical remake of "Lost Horizon." They had devoted two years to the movie, only to see it scorned by critics and audiences alike. Bacharach became so depressed he sequestered himself in his vacation home and refused to work.
Bacharach and David sued each other and Warwick sued them both. The cases were settled out of court in 1979 and the three went their separate ways. They reconciled in 1992 for Warwick's recording of "Sunny Weather Lover."
David, meanwhile, went on to collaborate successfully with several other composers: John Barry with the title song of the James Bond film "Moonraker;" Albert Hammond with "To All the Girls I've Loved Before," which Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson sang as a duet; and Henry Mancini with "The Greatest Gift" in "The Return of the Pink Panther."
Born in New York City, David had attended public schools before studying journalism at New York University. He served in the Army during World War II, mostly as a member of an entertainment unit in the South Pacific. After the war, he worked as a copywriter at the New York Post, but music was his passion and he had written lyrics for Sammy Kaye, Guy Lombardo and other bandleaders before hooking up with Bacharach.
Hal David
In Memory
Max Bygraves
British entertainer Max Bygraves, a veteran singer and comedian known for his old-fashioned charm, has died, his agent confirmed Saturday. He was 89.
Agent Johnny Mans said Bygraves, who had suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died in his sleep Friday at his daughter's home in Hope Island, Queensland, Australia.
Bygraves won fame in Britain's music halls and theaters after World War II, becoming one of the country's best known variety performers and releasing dozens of popular records.
Famed for his catchphrase "I wanna tell you a story," Bygraves become a staple performer on radio through the 1950s, and later appeared frequently on British television shows and in a small number of films.
Born to an east London dockworker, Bygraves was awarded an OBE - a British honor - in 1982, and performed regularly for the royal family, first in 1950 for King George VI.
The performer's career spanned six decades, with Bygraves recording an album in 2001 for the Royal British Legion charity. He was best known for the songs "You Need Hands" and the novelty hit "You're a Pink Toothbrush."
Bygraves also won brief acclaim in the United States, where he toured in the 1950s and appeared alongside Judy Garland at New York's Palace Theater.
The entertainer emigrated from Britain to Australia in 2005.
Max Bygraves
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