from Bruce
Anecdotes
Auditions
• David Hasselhoff starred in Baywatch, which was a huge international hit. Earlier, he had struggled as an actor, and so he was kind to struggling actors. Often, after a first scene in an audition he knew that he could not use a particular actor in the TV series, but he would allow the actor to do a second scene anyway. Why? He says he did this “because I knew they’d practiced, because I knew how much it hurt me when I got rejected when I first started.”
• Early in her career, Lucille Ball wanted to be a showgirl. During the audition, producers would line the women up in a line, then walk down the line, looking the women over. Lucy knew that some of the other women were better endowed than she, so she stuffed her bodice with toilet paper. Unfortunately, some of the toilet paper was sticking out of her bodice — this did get Lucy noticed!
Autographs
• Diana Rigg, who played the very sexy Mrs. Emma Peel on The Avengers, once declined to sign an autograph for a fan by saying, “I’m sorry, but it’s illegal to sign autographs in the street.” (It’s not, of course.) It was Ms. Rigg’s mother who answered fan mail from overeager youths by writing, “My daughter is much too old for you and what you need is a good run around the block.”
• A woman was a little too much obsessed with soap opera Another World star Paul Michael Valley. Once Mr. Valley fell and hit his head on a fireplace mantle on the set. He was put on a stretcher to be rushed to the hospital when a woman handed him a pen and asked for his autograph, saying, “I know this is a bad time ….”
Bathrooms
• An English lady — Miss Jean Marsh, actress (star of Upstairs, Downstairs) — was given a crash course in American euphemisms before coming to New York City for the first time. Her mentors told her that in American polite society, one does not use the word “toilet.” Instead, one uses such phrases and words as “ladies room,” “powder room,” “restroom,” and “lounge.” She arrived at a television studio in New York City, where a man was to give her a tour. But first he asked her, “Before I take you on a tour of the studio, would you like to use the facilities?” Miss Marsh replied, “Oh, no, I’m not mechanical at all — I’d be afraid to touch anything!”
• When Robert L. Mott was working for the Captain Kangaroo Show live on TV, his sound effects room was located next to the building’s only women’s restroom. The flushes from this bathroom were very loud, and Mr. Mott understandably did not want the sound of the flushes to be heard on the children’s program; therefore, before each show started, he put an “Out of Order” sign on the door of the restroom. One show, he had just turned on the microphone for a sound effect on the show, when a woman screeched, “OUT OF ORDER! OH, F**K!”
• When Tracey Ullman was 13 years old, she heard a knock on the door. When she answered it, she discovered a woman, who asked to use the bathroom. Tracey led the woman to the bathroom, which turned out to be a mistake because the woman was a bag lady who locked the door, then proceeded to take a shower, wash her hair, and shave her legs. Finally, Tracey’s stepfather picked the lock and was able to get her out of their home.
• In the 1960s, Ethel Winant was the head of casting for CBS, and as head of casting, she was a powerful woman at a time when few powerful women existed in television. In fact, no women’s restroom was close to her office. Whenever she needed to make use of a restroom, she went to the men’s restroom — and left her high heels outside the door so her male co-workers would know not to enter.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. responded:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Rio Hondo"
EP: THE WICKED WAYS OF THE WORLD
Artist: Vancleef
Artist Location: Finland
Info: ‘le colt cantarono la morte…’ … (the colt sang death…)
“Unmastered version (for the best results, turn up the speaker volume)”
“Mastering is the final stage of audio production—the process of putting the finishing touches on a song by enhancing the overall sound, creating consistency across the album, and preparing it for distribution.” — ( isotope )
Price: Name Your Price (Includes FREE) for six-track EP
Genre: Spaghetti Western
Links:
THE WICKED WAYS OF THE WORLD
Vancleef on Bandcamp
Vancleef on YouTube
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David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Stephen Suggests
Drag Queen Story Time
Drag Queen Story Time ... Expanded, by Marc Dion | Creators Syndicate
Stephen F
Thanks, Stephen!
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
Vinnie the shitten is collecting sticks again.
“The American Way”
Superman
DC Comics is changing what Superman stands for.
The company released a new mission statement for the 83-year-old icon who famously fought for “Truth, Justice and the American Way.”
Now Clark Kent’s Man of Steel is about “Truth, Justice and a Better Tomorrow.”
“To better reflect the storylines that we are telling across DC and to honor Superman’s incredible legacy of over 80 years of building a better world, Superman’s motto is evolving,” announced DC Chief Creative Officer and Publisher Jim Lee at the company’s DC FanDome fan event on Saturday. “Superman has long been a symbol of hope who inspires people, and it is that optimism and hope that powers him forward with this new mission statement.”
The “American Way” phrase was first credited to the Adventures of Superman radio series which launched in 1940. Since then, Superman has persevered through some dark periods of America’s past, and fans have pointed out that his patriotism was never intended as a wholesale endorsement of all things U.S.A., but is rather a superhero twist on an immigration story and a reflection of the country’s ability to address its problems and persevere.
Superman
Internet Sleuth Finds Stolen Guitar
Randy Bachman
Decades after it was stolen, Canadian rock star Randy Bachman says he's finally found the rare guitar he used to write hits like "American Woman" and "Takin' Care of Business" after an internet sleuth tracked it down in Japan.
Bachman, of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive fame, said he was heartbroken when the 1957 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins guitar was stolen from a Toronto hotel in 1976.
The orange Gretsch, like the ones played by his idols Chet Atkins and Duane Eddy, was the first really expensive guitar he owned and he had to work hard as an 18-year-old to earn the $400 he needed to buy it.
"So I have a paper route where you make, like, two bucks a week delivering the paper, you mow a lawn for a dollar, you babysit someone, you get a dollar, you're working at a car wash and you'd get 50 cents an hour. This is way, way back," he said. "So to save the 400 bucks was a big, big, big deal."
Bachman said he used to have a 12-foot-long tow chain that he would use to lock the guitar to something secure if he had to leave it when he was on tour, but on that day, the band's road manager wasn't as careful.
Randy Bachman
Sues NC Strip Clubs
Carmen Electra
Five strip clubs and a nightclub in North Carolina are accused of using pictures of famous models without permission to promote their businesses on social media, according to federal court filings.
Nearly two dozen professional models — including Tara Leigh Patrick, aka Carmen Electra — sued the clubs in the Eastern District of North Carolina on Wednesday and Thursday, saying they violated federal trademark laws by using the models’ name and likeness without consent.
The clubs include Capital Cabaret in Morrisville, Secrets Cabaret in Fayetteville, Victoria’s Cabaret in Fayetteville, The Cave Gentlemen’s Club in Jacksonville, Ambis 1 Nightclub in Raleigh and Cherry’s Gentlemen’s Club in Havelock.
According to the individual complaints filed against each of the clubs, pictures of the models were used in advertising and on social media to “market to potential clients, grow their fan base, and build and maintain their brand.”
The use of their likeness made it look like the models endorsed the clubs or were associated with them, an attorney representing them said in court filings.
Carmen Electra
Breaks Ribs
Vince Neil
Vince Neil suffered broken ribs after falling from the stage during the Mötley Crüe singer’s concert Friday at the Monsters On The Mountain festival in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
In video from the incident (via Blabbermouth), Neil and his band were in the middle of performing Mötley Crüe’s “Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)” when the singer moved toward the front of the stage to encourage the crowd to clap along. Neil then stepped forward and accidentally fell off the stage.
Soon after the fall, Neil was rushed in an ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he underwent X-rays that found that the singer broke his ribs, Neil’s bassist Dana Strum told the Monsters on the Mountain crowd.
“The truth is Vince fell and broke ribs when he fell. He can’t breathe and he’s gonna get dealt with medically,” Strum said. “He was so excited to be here. He lives in Tennessee. But he was willing to stick it out and tough it out when the people back here were telling him ‘Don’t do it.’ Let’s have one good round of applause, please, for this guy.”
Neil should have ample time to recover before Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard embark on their long-delayed The Stadium Tour in June 2022, a trek — which also features Joan Jett and Poison — that was originally scheduled for the summer of 2020 before it was again postponed to next summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Vince Neil
Judicial Conflict
Failures
Two Democratic lawmakers on Thursday asked U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (R-Superfluous) for information on failures by judges to recuse themselves from cases in which they had financial conflicts as they questioned whether he had done enough to enforce ethics rules.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington cited as a reason for their concerns a Wall Street Journal report that 131 judges failed to recuse themselves from cases involving companies in which they or their family members owned stock.
The lawmakers in a letter to Roberts, in his role as the presiding officer of the U.S. Judicial Conference, the judiciary's policymaking body, said the "stunning" report "will justifiably reduce public confidence in the justice system."
They cited other instances in which Supreme Court justices similarly did not recuse themselves from cases despite potential financial conflicts as further evidence of a "systemic failure that requires accountability."
"These extensive ethics breaches are, at least in part, a direct result of the inadequate processes for judicial accountability," the lawmakers said in the letter.
Failures
Challengers Lag
Fundraising
Four candidates backed by Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up) to challenge Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach him or boot him from office are falling behind in raising money for their campaigns, according to disclosures filed on Friday.
Trump, who left office in January, remains a major influence within the Republican party, which hopes to regain control of the U.S. Congress in next year's elections.
Only a handful of Republicans joined Democrats when Congress voted to impeach Trump and then held an unsuccessful vote in the Senate to remove him from office, on a charge he incited insurrectionists to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Trump has called the Republicans who crossed him "disloyal" or "losers," and they have faced scorn within their party. Several have said they will retire or not seek re-election.
But those who are facing Trump-backed candidates in upcoming party nomination contests so far have raised more money than their challengers, which might help them counter Trump's campaign against them.
Fundraising
Baffled And Divided
Supporters
Former President Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up)'s supporters are divided over his comments that Republicans will not vote in the 2022 or 2024 elections unless the Republican Party backs his election fraud claims.
"If we don't solve the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020 (which we have thoroughly and conclusively documented), Republicans will not be voting in '22 or '24," Trump said in a statement emailed to his supporters on Wednesday.
"It is the single most important thing for Republicans to do," he said.
In several pro-Trump and QAnon Telegram channels, MAGA supporters have been arguing over whether to follow his advice.
"Donald Trump is doing everything he can to hurt Republican chances in 2022," an account called Trump Supporters wrote on Telegram.
Supporters
Physicists Shattered Record
Coldest Temperature
Scientists just broke the record for the coldest temperature ever measured in a lab: They achieved the bone-chilling temperature of 38 trillionths of a degree above -273.15 Celsius by dropping magnetized gas 393 feet (120 meters) down a tower.
The team of German researchers was investigating the quantum properties of a so-called fifth state of matter: Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), a derivative of gas that exists only under ultra-cold conditions.
While in the BEC phase, matter itself begins to behave like one large atom, making it an especially appealing subject for quantum physicists who are interested in the mechanics of subatomic particles.
Temperature is a measure of molecular vibration – the more a collection of molecules moves, the higher the collective temperature.
Absolute zero, then, is the point at which all molecular motion stops – minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 273.15 degrees C. Scientists have even developed a special scale for extremely cold temperatures, called the Kelvin scale, where zero Kelvin corresponds to absolute zero.
Coldest Temperature
Vanity Plates
Maine
Removing the flipping obscenities from license plates on Maine’s roads and highways isn’t going to happen overnight, even though a law banning such profanities in a state where such regulation has been unusually lax goes into effect Monday.
Currently, there are license plates with salty language including f-bombs, references to anatomy and sex acts, and general insults. One license plate says simply, “F—-Y0U” — except that on the plate, it’s plainly spelled out.
Now, rule-making is getting underway to ensure the law protects First Amendment rights while getting rid of obscene language.
Requests for so-called vanity license plates that are deemed to be potentially offensive will be on hold in the meantime. Eventually, the state will begin recalling previously issued plates, likely this winter.
In Maine, there are about 121,000 vanity license plates on the roads in a state with about 1.3 million residents. An estimated 400 offensive plates could be subject to recall, officials said.
Maine
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