from Bruce
Anecdotes
Christmas
• When playwright Lorraine Hansberry was in kindergarten, she received a very nice Christmas present: a white fur coat with matching fur muff. However, she was not pleased by the gift. She knew that although her family was financially well off, other children in their neighborhood were not. In fact, some of the children in the neighborhood were forced to put cardboard in their shoes to keep the snow and ice from coming through the holes in the soles of their shoes. Just as young Lorraine suspected, the other children were jealous of her coat, and they chased her home the first day she wore it and threw mud balls at her.
Costumes
• In 1982, Sinead Cusack appeared as Katherine in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. For her costume, an exquisite pink silk dress had been designed; however, she felt that the character would not wear anything exquisite. Therefore, she wore boots with the dress, and she suggested to the designer, Bob Crowley, “Let’s desecrate it.” He agreed, and he said, “Shall I make the first cut?” With a pair of scissors, he cut a slash in the skirt, then she did the same thing. After the desecration, the dress suited the character.
• Born Sarah Francis Frost, Julia Marlowe invented her stage name by taking the last name of Christopher Marlowe and the name of the heroine from a favorite play, The Hunchback. Late in the 19th century, she was asked why she didn’t act in more modern plays — after all, her finances were being hurt because she preferred to act only in the plays of Shakespeare and other classic dramatists. Ms. Marlowe replied, “Well, I don’t fancy myself in modern drama. I never look well in modern clothes.” End of discussion.
• One of Bette Midler’s more unusual grand entrances was in a hot dog costume, complete with condiments and bun. At an early fitting of the costume, Ms. Midler ran into trouble. The costumers had used Krazy-Glu in its construction, and because of a lack of air circulation in the costume, the glue had not dried. When Ms. Midler tried to get out of the costume, she couldn’t — her hair was glued to the giant hot dog. She was forced to stay inside the giant hot dog until her hairdresser came and cut her out.
• Florenz “Flo” Ziegfeld was a master at making the beautiful women who appeared in his Follies even more beautiful. Whenever he inspected a costume, he would turn it inside out to look at its lining. He believed that when the inside of the costume was as beautiful as the outside, the women in his Follies felt more beautiful and thus appeared more beautiful.
Critics
• Robert Benchley was the drama critic for Life for several years. He detested Abie’s Irish Rose, which set a record with 2,327 performances over several years. Unfortunately for Mr. Benchley, Life ran capsule reviews of plays previously reviewed, so each week he had to find a new way to write “awful” in his capsule review of the play. After running out of ideas, he began to fill the space with such “reviews” as “There is no letter ‘w’ in the French alphabet” and “Flying fish are sometimes seen at as great a height as 15 feet” and “In another two or three years, we’ll have this play driven out of town” and “Closing soon. (Only fooling.)” Eventually, he held a contest for suggestions to fill the space. Harpo Marx’s suggestion was “No worse than a bad cold.”
• Billy Rose produced The Great Magoo, written by Gene Fowler and Ben Hecht. Unfortunately, the New York critics disliked the play and it soon closed. Mr. Rose, Mr. Fowler, and Mr. Hecht were approached by a few financial backers of the play — financial backers who also happened to be members of organized crime. The financial backers invited the three men to pick any three New York critics they would like to see dead, and the financial backers would see to it their wish turned into reality. Mr. Rose was against bloodshed, Mr. Fowler wanted a few critics to die, and Mr. Hecht wasn’t sure one way or the other. Eventually, they decided to let the critics live — a decision that Mr. Hecht later said he sometimes regretted.
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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: "Middle of the Morning"
Album: WAITING
Artist: Megan Bee
Artist Location: Athens, Ohio
Info:
“Singer-songwriter Megan Bee writes with an unquenchable wanderlust and a raw love for the land. In the summer of 2020 she released her third studio album, WAITING, which was named album of the year by THE ARK OF MUSIC. The album follows her 2017 release LIKE A CANYON, which won The Ohio Music Awards Best Americana and Best Singer-Songwriter Album along with a finalist spot in the 2018 USA Songwriting Competition.
“Her music is a blend of distinctly homespun vocals, acoustic simplicity, yearning soulfulness, and winsome storytelling. Megan's background as an environmental educator, traveling farmhand, and vagabond once took her into a desert wilderness where she found her voice around a campfire. She bases out of the rolling hills of Athens, Ohio and frequently roams the country playing festivals, coffeehouses, brewpubs, house concerts, and around campfires.
“She seems to have nothing to prove and no agenda, just to write her heart and then sing it. […] The album is beautifully produced, and Megan’s voice cuts like a warbling bird through the music, like a line on a map.” Hold the Note Magazine
“WAITING is wonderfully uncomplicated, genuinely soulful, and as storied as its creator — a true masterpiece that showcases stellar Bee’s songwriting skills phenomenally.” The Ark of Music
“… warm and inviting … incredibly organic sounding. It sounds pure and human throughout.” Divide and Conquer
“In the summer of 2020 she released her third studio album, WAITING. Recorded on the brink of a global pandemic in a humble basement studio, intimate vocals and soulful lyrics are supported by a simple production that pulls you in to the closeness and warmth of these songs.“
Price: $1 (USD) for track; $10 (USD) for nine-track album
Genre: Americana. Singer-Songwriter.
Links:
Megan Bee on Bandcamp
Megan Official Website
Megan Bee on YouTube
Megan Bee on Facebook
Megan Bee: Live From Home
Megan Bee at Ohio University’s Scripps Amphitheater: 16 September 2021
Other Links:
Bruce’s Music Recommendations: FREE pdfs
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
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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
Mid-way through the Sumo basho for September.
Chess Star Sues Netflix
Nona Gaprindashvili
Female Soviet chess legend Nona Gaprindashvili is suing Netflix for $5 million after a scene in the hit show Queen’s Gambit falsely claimed she had never played against men. In fact, she claims to have played and beaten dozens of men. In the suit, Gaprindashvili called the incorrect dialogue “grossly sexist”.
The lawsuit was filed in LA district court on September 16 and is focused mostly on one scene in the Queen’s Gambit. The popular Netflix show is about a fictional American chess player named Beth Harmon who rises up the ranks to become a globally successful chess legend. In the finale of the series, during one scene, a commentator watching Harmon play directly references real-life chess star Gaprindashvili and her career.
“Elizabeth Harmon’s not at all an important player by their standards,” explained the announcer. “The only unusual thing about her, really, is her sex. And even that’s not unique in Russia. There’s Nona Gaprindashvili, but she’s the female world champion and has never faced men.”
At this point, Queen’s Gambit is set in the year 1968. According to the lawsuit filed by Gaprindashvili, by this point in time, she had already played and defeated many men in chess, including 10 grandmasters.
The lawsuit continues, harshly criticizing Netflix for its choice to change history and claiming the company had “brazenly and deliberately lied” about her achievements “For the cheap and cynical purpose of ‘heightening the drama’ by making it appear that its fictional hero had managed to do what no other woman, including Gaprindashvili, had done.”
Nona Gaprindashvili
Met Opera To Stage
Anthony Davis’ `X’
The Metropolitan Opera will present its second work by a Black composer, Anthony Davis’ “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X,” just two years after its first.
The company said Thursday that “X” will open on Nov. 3, 2023, in a staging by Robert O’Hara that will be conducted by Kazem Abdullah.
Baritone Will Liverman will sing the title role and soprano Leah Hawkins will sing in the staging, a co-production of the Met, Michigan, Opera Omaha and the Seattle Opera. The production will first be seen at Detroit’s Michigan Opera Theater next May 14 and travel to Omaha that October.
The Met opens its 2021-22 season on Sept. 27 with Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” ending an 18-month gap in staged performances due to the pandemic.
“X” had its world premiere at New York City Opera in 1986. Davis, winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Music for “The Central Park Five,” will rewrite “X” to have one intermission instead of two.
Anthony Davis’ `X’
Calms The Brain
Mozart
A Mozart sonata that can calm epileptic brain activity may get its therapeutic power thanks to melodies that create a sense of surprise, according to a study published Thursday.
The research on 16 patients hospitalized with epilepsy who did not respond to medication has bolstered hopes that music could be used for new non-invasive treatments.
Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major K448 is known for its effects on cognition and other brain activity, but researchers are still seeking to understand why.
The so-called 'Mozart effect' has been the subject of research since scientists in 1993 claimed people who had listened to K448 for 10 minutes showed improved spatial reasoning skills.
Subsequent research has has tested K448's effects on various brain functions and disorders, including epilepsy.
Mozart
Winnie the Pooh’s Tree House
‘Bearbnb’
If your childhood dream was to live like Winnie the Pooh, this is your chance to make it come true by staying at a replica of the storied bear’s tree house.
Pooh illustrator Kim Raymond is hosting two one-night stays at the “Bearbnb,” custom-built at the real site that inspired the fictional Hundred Acre Wood in England to celebrate the 95th anniversary of Pooh’s creation by writer A. A. Milne.
“The ‘Bearbnb’ is a unique experience that brings the charm of Pooh to life for fans, whilst honoring the original adventures that have been so important to many people for 95 years,” Raymond said in an Airbnb release.
The house is one room that looks like it is built into a tree, complete with the Mr. Sanders sign above the door on the outside and “hunny pots” in the cupboard inside.
Guests will be taken on a tour of the area in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex that was the inspiration for books’ wood setting, and the stay includes playing “poohsticks” on Poohsticks Bridge and “hunny-inspired meals,” according to the Airbnb listing.
‘Bearbnb’
Ends Release Appeal
Jeffrey MacDonald
A former Army doctor convicted for the infamous 1970 murders of his pregnant wife and two young daughters on a North Carolina base has ended his appeal of a lower court ruling that denied his requested release.
An attorney for Jeffrey MacDonald said in court documents that his client wished to dismiss his appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. Federal prosecutors did not oppose the dismissal in the “Fatal Vision” case, named for a book about the investigation, and the court granted the dismissal Thursday.
MacDonald, who is serving life in prison, had filed an appeal notice in April, two weeks after District Judge Terrence Boyle refused to release him. His lawyers had asked Boyle to let him leave prison because of his deteriorating health. Boyle wrote he lacked authority because a law governing compassionate release requests doesn’t apply to those who committed their crimes before a 1987 cutoff.
MacDonald, 77, is incarcerated at a prison in Cumberland, Maryland, and has chronic kidney disease, skin cancer and high blood pressure, according to court documents.
MacDonald was convicted in 1979 for killing his pregnant wife, Colette; 5-year-old daughter, Kimberley; and 2-year-old daughter, Kristen at their family home at Fort Bragg using a knife and ice pick before stabbing himself. MacDonald has declared his innocence and spent years on appeals.
Jeffrey MacDonald
First COVID-19 Case
American Samoa
American Samoa confirmed its first positive case of COVID-19, the island nation's Department of Homeland Security said Friday.
The case was detected Thursday among 43 travelers who were quarantined at a hotel in the village of Utulei. After the case was confirmed, more than 200 travelers quarantined at a nearby hotel were also tested. No other positive cases were reported.
The traveler who did test positive was asymptomatic when tested and was fully vaccinated, Homeland Security said in a statement. The infected person has been transported to an isolation facility at the Department of Health, and the rest of the passengers are in quarantine.
The small island country requires that travelers spend 10 days in quarantine upon arrival. The department said the protocol has "allowed the medical team to continue the close monitoring of travelers and minimize the risk of community transmission."
As of Saturday, all sales and ticketing at Samoa Airways in New Zealand and Australia were closed until further notice.
American Samoa
Supply Chain Shortages
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania will ration sales of certain liquor products due to supply chain disruptions, the commonwealth announced Friday.
Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, the agency responsible for selling and regulating wine, beer, and spirits, will enforce a two-bottle purchase limit to certain items beginning September 17 for an indefinite time.
The two-bottle limit applies to sales in stores, bars, and restaurants.
Rationed products include certain bottles of Hennessy, Jack Daniel's, Don Julio, and Patrón Tequila Silver. The impacted brands represent just 2% of the state's total, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
"These bottle limits are preventative measures to fairly distribute product and minimize out-of-stock situations, which will vary by location," the PLCB said in a statement.
Pennsylvania
Nostrils Don't Breathe Equally
Nasal Cycle
If you get close to a mirror and breathe out through your nose, the mirror will fog up. Two marks of water vapor will pool on the surface, one for each nostril. But one mark will be larger than the other, because people breathe mostly out of one nostril at a time.
So why do we rarely breathe out of both nostrils at once?
At any given time, people do about 75% of their breathing from one nostril and 25% from the other, said Dr. Michael Benninger, a head-and-neck doctor at the Cleveland Clinic. The dominant nostril switches throughout the day. This is called the nasal cycle.
Although we don't usually notice it, during the nasal cycle one nostril becomes congested and thus contributes less to airflow, while the other becomes decongested. On average, the congestion pattern switches about every 2 hours, according to a small 2016 study published in the journal PLOS One. Right-handed people tended to spend more time favoring their left nostril, according to the study.
No one is sure why the nasal cycle occurs, Benninger said. But there is one popular theory: "Some people have speculated that it has to do with allowing moisture to build up on one side so that it doesn't get too dry," he said.
Nasal Cycle
Message In A Bottle
Hawaii
High schoolers in Japan placed rolled-up pieces of paper in glass bottles 37 years ago and sent them out to sea. This month, one of the bottles was found in Hawaii, more than 3,700 miles away.
The bottle was found by 9-year-old Abbie Graham, who picked it up on a beach in Hawaii's Paradise Park, per the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
Graham spotted a contact form in the bottle with information written in multiple languages, including Japanese and English, per the Tribune-Herald. The letter explained the bottle's origins and appealed to whoever found it to contact the Choshi High School, located in the eastern Japanese prefecture of Chiba.
The messages in bottles were part of a science experiment to study the ocean's currents conducted by students at Choshi High, per Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun. The news outlet reported that 750 bottles were placed in the waters off Miyakejima Island, an island near Tokyo, from 1984 to 1985.
Fifty of the bottles have been discovered over the years in the Japanese prefectures of Okinawa, Akita, and Kyoto, per Japanese news outlet Yomiuri Shimbun. Some were also found on beaches in the Philippines, China, and along America's west coast. But the last time one of Choshi High School's bottles was found was in 2002, on the southern Japanese island of Kikaijima.
Hawaii
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