• Many famous, rich people grew up poor, and their early poverty affected how they regarded money. Comedian Fred Allen once paid $300 to rent a cottage in Maine for the summer. (Obviously, this was a long time ago.) After the money had exchanged hands, a syndicate offered Mr. Allen $2,000 a week to write a column every other day. However, he turned it down. His friend Groucho Marx asked him why, and Mr. Allen explained, “I paid $300 for that cottage up in Maine, and if I accept this job I’ll have to stay in New York. I’d be out the $300.” So the syndicate raised its offer—to $3,000 a week. But Mr. Allen again turned the syndicate down. Groucho was incredulous, and he told Mr. Allen, “Why don’t you forget about the $300? You could take one week’s salary from the syndicate and own that cottage outright.” Mr. Allen replied, “I paid $300 to live in that cottage this summer, and that landlord is not going to get my money for nothing!”
• Walter Catlett made a good living playing eccentrics in movies of the 1930s through the 1950s. (He played the comic Sheriff in the screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, which starred Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn.) Mr. Catlett was also an eccentric in real life. One day, he ran out of money playing roulette at Agua Caliente, a gambling house in Mexico, so he pulled out his false teeth and bet them. He won and collected the price of the dentures: $350. He was well known for his drinking ability and his propensity to spend his money on having fun. When the stock market crashed in 1929, he thought it was hilarious that everyone else was as broke as he was, without having had the fun of spending their money. Yet another reason why he was so often broke was that he gave much of his money away to charity and the needy.
• At age 15, comedian Rita Rudner wanted to be a dancer, so she moved to New York City to study dancing. However, at age 15, she did not understand the intricacies of tipping. Once, she ordered and ate a turkey sandwich, then left without tipping. The waiter came running after her on the sidewalk and told her, “You forgot to leave me a tip.” She handed him her wallet and told him, “Take what you want—just don’t hurt me.” The waiter took $5 from her wallet, saying, “That’s one dollar for serving you the turkey sandwich and four dollars for making me run down the street.” Even at age 15, Rita was a comedian, so she said, “Why don’t you take two dollars for serving me the sandwich and three dollars for running down the street?”
• Comedian Jerry Lewis once boasted about a one iron he owned that he said was the best ever made. Pro golfer Sam Snead heard the boast, and he invited Mr. Lewis to try his one iron. Mr. Lewis tried it, hit the ball further than with his own one iron, then attempted to buy the one iron from Mr. Snead. On hearing the first offer—$100—Mr. Snead said, “No, no.” On hearing the second offer—$200—Mr. Snead said, “No, losing that club would ruin my whole bag.” On hearing the third offer—$500—Mr. Snead said, “Run with it before I change my mind,” and so Mr. Lewis handed over the money and took off running across the golf course.
• Before becoming rich (but not before developing his habit of overtipping), Jackie Gleason overtipped himself into poverty at a hotel. Without enough money to pay his bill, he decided to walk out on his hotel bill. He put on every article of clothing he owned, covered himself with a robe, then walked out, telling the hotel management that he was going for a swim. A year later, he was in funds again and returned to the hotel to pay his bill. He walked up to the hotel owner at the front desk, and the owner shouted, “Oh, my God! We thought you had drowned!”
Forty-nine of the fifty U.S. states that make up the United States of America have one or more state songs, a type of regional anthem, which are selected by each state legislature, and/or state governor, as a symbol (or emblem) of that particular U.S. state.
New Jersey has no official state song, while Virginia's previous state song, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny", adopted in 1940, was later rescinded in 1997 due to language deemed racist by the Virginia General Assembly. In 2015, "Our Great Virginia" was made the new state song of Virginia.
Source
Billy in Cypress was first, and correct, with:
New Jersey
Mark. said:
New Jersey.
Dave wrote:
New Jersey. I blame Chris Christie.
Alan J answered:
New Jersey.
Mac Mac responded:
New Jersy
zorch replied:
New Jersey has no state song.
Cal in Vermont said:
New Joisey
Deborah, the Master Gardener wrote:
My home state, New Jersey, is the only state without an official state song. Why those in charge of such things haven’t already named a Bruce Springsteen song baffles me.
Christmas was good, if quiet. After 41 years together, my husband and I still manage to surprise each other with gifts; that in itself is a gift. I’m grateful.
DJ Useo wrote:
I was pleased as punch to realize I actually knew the answer is New Jersey! Good fun.
Randall took the day off.
John I from Hawai`i took the day off.
Stephen F took the day off.
Daniel in The City took the day off.
Jacqueline took the day off.
David of Moon Valley took the day off.
Bob from Mechanicsburg, Pa took the day off.
Dave in Tucson took the day off.
Michelle in AZ took the day off.
Leo in Boise took the day off.
Joe took the day off.
Roy, getting used to the Hermit Lifestyle in Tyler, TX took the day off.
mj took the day off.
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame took the day off.
Kevin K. in Washington DC took the day off.
Ed K took the day off.
Jon L took the day off.
Doug in Albuquerque, New Mexico, took the day off.
-pgw took the day off.
Kenn B took the day off.
Micki took the day off.
Angelo D took the day off.
Harry M. took the day off.
George M. took the day off.
Gary K took the day off.
Roy the (now retired) hoghead (aka 'hoghed') ( Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. ~Frank Zappa ) took the day off.
Saskplanner took the day off.
Gateway Mike took the day off.
Steve in Wonderful Sacramento, CA, took the day off.
MarilynofTC took the day off.
Paul of Seattle took the day off.
Brian S. took the day off.
Gene took the day off.
Tony K. took the day off.
Noel S. took the day off.
James of Alhambra took the day off.
BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
Stratford, London-based Record Label/Publisher. Est. 2006
Damnably Records celebrated its 14th Birthday in 2020 with a 5 + hour live streamed extravaganza featuring Otoboke Beaver, Say Sue Me, Drinking Boys and Girls Choir, Grrrl Gang, David Boring, Hazy Sour Cherry, Hiperson, American Werewolf Academy, Leggy, Wussy (duo), Dogstar's Sunmi and Shonen Knife's Naoko all performing live and chatting with us. Watch now on Damnably's YouTube ( bit.ly/Dmnbl14BD )
CBS starts the night, as usual, with '60 Minutes', followed by a RERUN'NCIS: The Expendable One', then a RERUN'NCIS: The 3rd One', followed by a RERUN'NCIS'.
NBC fills the night with LIVE'Sunday Night Football', then pads the left coast with local crap, and maybe an old 'Dateline'.
ABC begins the night with a RERUN'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', followed by another RERUN'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', then a RERUN'Supermarket Sweep', followed by another RERUN'Supermarket Sweep'.
The CW offers a RERUN'Penn & Teller: Try This At Home', followed by a FRESH'The Outpost'.
Faux has LIVE'NFL Football', followed by a FRESH'The Masked Dancer', then pads the left coast with local crap.
MY recycles an old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by another old 'Big Bang Theory', then still another old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by yet another old 'Big Bang Theory'.
A&E has the movie 'The Bourne Ultimatum', followed by the movie 'Olympus Has Fallen', then the movie 'White House Down'.
AMC offers the movie 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation', followed by the movie 'National Lampoon's Vacation', then the movie 'National Lampoon's European Vacation'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS - BLOOD, DEVASTATION, DEATH, WAR AND HORROR
[6:15AM] DOCTOR WHO - THE GOD COMPLEX
[7:17AM] DOCTOR WHO - CLOSING TIME
[8:22AM] DOCTOR WHO - THE WEDDING OF RIVER SONG
[9:25AM] DOCTOR WHO - ASYLUM OF THE DALEKS
[10:30AM] DOCTOR WHO - DINOSAURS ON A SPACESHIP
[11:35AM] DOCTOR WHO - A TOWN CALLED MERCY
[12:40PM] DOCTOR WHO - THE POWER OF THREE
[1:40PM] DOCTOR WHO - THE ANGELS TAKE MANHATTAN
[2:45PM] DOCTOR WHO - THE BELLS OF SAINT JOHN
[3:49PM] DOCTOR WHO - THE RINGS OF AKHATEN
[4:50PM] DOCTOR WHO - COLD WAR
[5:50PM] DOCTOR WHO - HIDE
[6:55PM] DOCTOR WHO - JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE TARDIS
[8:00PM] DOCTOR WHO - THE CRIMSON HORROR
[9:05PM] DOCTOR WHO - NIGHTMARE IN SILVER
[10:10PM] DOCTOR WHO - THE NAME OF THE DOCTOR
[11:15PM] DOCTOR WHO - DEEP BREATH
[12:45AM] DOCTOR WHO - LISTEN
[1:45AM] DOCTOR WHO - TIME HEIST
[2:45AM] DOCTOR WHO - THE CARETAKER
[3:47AM] DOCTOR WHO - THE MAGICIAN'S APPRENTICE
[4:53AM] DOCTOR WHO - THE WITCH'S FAMILIAR (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has the movie 'Last Holiday', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Potomac', then a FRESH'Bravo's Chat Room'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Step Brothers', followed by the movie 'We're The Millers', then the movie '50 First Dates'.
FX has the movie 'Jumanji', followed by the movie 'Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle', then the movie 'Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle', again.
History has all old 'The Men Who Built Ameria' all night.
IFC -
[6:00am - 9:30am] Saved By The Bell
[10:00am - 12:30pm] Three's Company
[1:00pm] Yours, Mine & Ours
[3:05pm] Zookeeper
[5:25pm] Fool's Gold
[8:00pm] Twister
[10:30pm] Twister
[1:00am] Fool's Gold
[3:30am] Zookeeper
[5:45am] The Three Stooges - The Ghost Talks (ALL TIMES ET)
Sundance -
[6:00am] monk - Mr. Monk And The Kid
[7:00am] monk - Mr. Monk And The Other Detective
[8:00am] the godfather
[12:00pm] the godfather, part ii
[4:30pm] the godfather
[8:30pm] the godfather, part ii
[1:00am] the godfather, part iii
[5:00am] hogan's heroes
[5:30am] hogan's heroes (ALL TIMES ET)
SyFy has the movie 'The Goonies', followed by the movie 'Speed'.
Star Trek’s James Doohan made it to the final frontier. A new interview has revealed an astronaut took Doohan’s ashes with him when he visited the International Space Station.
Doohan, who played chief engineer Montgomery Scott on the show and who ignited the signature phrase “Beam me up, Scotty,” was forever being asked to push the Enterprise engines beyond their limits. But he finally made it into space in 2008. He died at age 85 in 2005.
Entrepreneur Richard Garriott, 59, smuggled Doohan’s ashes onto the ISS in 2008 during a 12-day mission as a private astronaut. He was backed by Doohan’s son, Chris, who said his father’s wish was to make it to the ISS. The request was denied for two other trips, resulting in Garriott having to undertake clandestine means to get the ashes on board.
Garriott took a card with Doohan’s picture and some of his ashes, which were laminated and tucked under cladding on the floor of the space station’s Columbus module.
Emma Thompson is criticizing what is commonplace in Hollywood — older male actors paired on-screen with women half their age.
“It’s completely acceptable for George Clooney – who is delightful – to have someone who is 40 years younger than him or 30 years younger than him,” she said on the podcast CultureBlast. “If I have someone playing opposite me in a romantic way, they have to exhume someone, because I’m 61 now. Do you see what I mean? It’s completely and utterly unbalanced.”
Thompson turns that notion on its head in her upcoming film Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, in which she plays a 55-year-old widow who hires a sex worker in his early 20s.
“It’s very interesting with this woman I’m about to play,” she continued. “This young man says, ‘You’re perfectly attractive, why can’t you find another chap?’ And she says, ‘Because the only people willing to sleep with me are people my age, and I want to sleep with someone younger than me.’
U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden's wife has given birth to a son, photographs posted on her social media page on Saturday showed.
"Happy Holidays from our newly expanded family," Lindsay Mills wrote, sharing photographs on Instagram of the couple holding the newborn.
Snowden, 37, who fled the United States after leaking secret National Security Agency files in 2013 and was given asylum in Russia, said last month that he would be seeking Russian citizenship together with his wife for the sake of their future family.
The couple said they feared being separated from their son, in an era of pandemics and closed borders, if they did not become dual U.S.-Russian citizens.
Russia has already granted Snowden permanent residency rights, lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said earlier this year, a vital step towards Russian citizenship.
In response to threats of a defamation lawsuit, the One America News Network is leaning further into some election conspiracy theories that the network has featured on its shows.
Dominion Voting Systems previously sent OAN letters threatening to sue, accusing the network of spreading the unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that the election-technology company manipulated votes in favor of President-elect Joe Biden in the November general election.
In letters reviewed by Insider, OAN responded by requesting Dominion keep records of certain documents so the network can "preserve its own claims and defenses in the event of litigation."
The material OAN requested be preserved concerns that claim, as well as other baseless conspiracy theories that prompted Dominion's lawsuit threats in the first place.
In letters sent a day later, OAN requested the companies' save any correspondence between Smartmatic CEO Antonio Mugica and a number of individuals, including former president of Venezuela Hugo Chávez and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla.
President Donald Trump (R-Loser) has bashed leading US lifestyle magazines for not giving his wife, Melania Trump, a single front page cover while he has been in office.
In a tweet on Friday, Trump called the First Lady "the greatest of all time," while retweeting a Breitbart post that said "elitist snobs in the fashion press" were ostracizing the "most elegant First Lady in American history."
Trump fans have long noticed and lamented the absence of the First Lady from US news stands, and often accused the US press of revealing their liberal bias by granting Michelle Obama, the wife of former president Barack Obama, 12 magazine covers in her two terms as First Lady, including three Vogue covers.
However, Melania Trump drew criticism from Vogue readers and magazine publishers in February this year over comments she made during a leaked private phone call about Wintour's decision to let Beyoncé guest-edit an issue of the magazine.
Beverly Hills Italian restaurant, La Scala, has come under fire for promoting a “speakeasy”-style indoor dining experience that would violate coronavirus safety measures.
City officials have denounced the eatery after patrons received slips of paper in their to-go orders advertising the New Year’s Eve event. Beverly Hills officials have directly contacted the restaurant as its advertised “speakeasy” would violate the city’s coronavirus safety protocols.
The La Scala invitations, which were sent out as Los Angeles County continues to see a drastic rise in new Covid-19 cases, related deaths and hospitalizations, liken the coronavirus pandemic to the 20’s Prohibition.
“We are considering taking reservations for New Year’s Eve Dinner. Inside,” the discreet invitation reads. “If this is something you’d be interested in, please let us know as soon as possible. If enough interest we’ll contact you back to secure a reservation.”
To keep with its tone of secrecy and subtle rebellion, the La Scala invitation ends with, “please keep this discreet, but tell all your friends.”
Apu Sarker was showing his open palm to me on a video call from his home in Bangladesh. Nothing seemed unusual at first, but as I looked closer I could see the smooth surfaces of his fingertips.
Apu, who is 22, lives with his family in a village in the northern district of Rajshahi. He was working as a medical assistant until recently. His father and his grandfather were farmers.
The men in Apu's family appear to share a genetic mutation so rare it is thought to affect only a small handful of families in the world: they have no fingerprints.
But over the decades, the tiny grooves that swirl around our fingertips - known properly as dermatoglyphs - have become the world's most collected biometric data. We use them for everything from passing through airports to voting and opening our smartphones.
In 2010, fingerprints became mandatory for passports and driver's licences. After several attempts, Amal was able to obtain a passport by showing a certificate from a medical board. He has never used it though, partly because he fears the problems he may face at the airport. And though riding a motorbike is essential to his farming work, he has never obtained a driving licence. "I paid the fee, passed the exam, but they did not issue a licence because I couldn't provide fingerprint," he said.
A Russian cat rescued from a rubbish separator at a waste processing plant has been adopted by the Ulyanovsk region’s environment ministry and given an honorary title.
The black and white cat has achieved local celebrity status in Ulyanovsk, a city 435 miles east of Moscow, after surveillance camera footage showed a worker at the sorting facility grabbing a bag from a conveyor belt and opening it to discover the feline inside.
“I felt something soft inside the bag,” plant worker Mikhail Tukash told the tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets, Reuters reported. “I cut the bag open slightly and I saw eyes looking back at me.”
The footage shows the conveyor belt come to a stop as Mr Tukash shows his colleagues the cat, which remains calm as he strokes it with gloved hands.
The local channel reported that workers at the plant had previously rescued an African hedgehog nicknamed Vezunka, which means lucky in Russian, and two red-eared slider turtles.
A fast-food eatery at Pompeii has been excavated, helping to reveal dishes that were popular for the citizens of the ancient Roman city who were partial to eating out.
Pompeii Archaeological Park’s longtime chief, Massimo Osanna said Saturday that while some 80 such fast-foods have been found at Pompeii, it is the first time such a hot-food-drink eatery — known as a thermopolium — was completely unearthed.
A segment of the fast-food counter was partially dug up in 2019 during work to shore up Pompeii’s oft-crumbling ruins. Since then, archaeologists kept digging, revealing a multi-sided-counter, with typical wide holes inserted into its top. The countertop held deep vessels for hot foods, not unlike soup containers nestled into modern-day salad bars.
Plant and animal specialists are still analyzing remains from the site, with its counter frescoed with a figure of an undersea nymph astride a horse. Images of two upside-down mallards and a rooster, whose plumage was painted with the typical vivid color known as Pompeiian red, also brightened the eatery and likely served to advertise the menu.
Another fresco depicted a dog on a leash, perhaps not unlike modern reminders to leash pets. Vulgar graffiti were inscribed on the painting’s frame.
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Do you have something to say?
Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better, amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican hypocrites?
was first, and correct, with:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
