Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Andrew Tobias: Left and Center
My own feeling was that Hillary would have been more effective in making progress toward the goals they both shared. But I was glad Bernie raised the issues he did. (I only wish he had stood down once the math made it impossible for him to win, and used those extra weeks to help her win. Maybe Putin would have failed if he had.)
Greg Sargent: Republicans are trapped inside one of Trump's biggest lies (Washington Post)
How some conservative media reacted to Trump ending the shutdown
Garrison Keillor: The old indoorsman looks out at winter
Bitter cold in Minneapolis last week with a high of nine below one day, which is colder than a witch's body part, but we do have central heating in our building and I am no longer employed as a parking lot attendant as I was when I was 19, responsible for herding drivers into double straight lines as a bitter wind blew across the frozen tundra, and so, as we in Minnesota often say, "It could be worse." Especially if you were married to a witch.
Jonathan Jones: Let's not lose our marbles over the British Museum boss's remarks (The Guardian)
Hartwig Fischer said that removing the Parthenon marbles from Greece was a 'creative act' - but there is a logic to this provocative view that shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.
'I'd like to offer you a holiday' - Richard E Grant's childhood letter to Barbra Streisand (Irish Times)
Singer responds after actor and superfan shared letter and posed outside her house.
Alison Flood: Dr Seuss's thank-you letter to man who saved his first book (The Guardian)
The Cat in the Hat author was going to destroy early story believing it was unsaleable.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
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from Bruce
Anecdotes - Education
Jacques d'Amboise studied ballet as a child after school. Unfortunately, he sometimes got into trouble at school and for punishment had to stay after school-until his mother requested of the nuns at his Catholic school that they not detain him because of his ballet lessons. This, however, led to a problem. Instead of serving detention, young Jacques would be excused with this public announcement that embarrassed him but amused the other truants: "Mr. d'Amboise is excused now to take his ballet lesson." The first time he danced in public was equally embarrassing. He danced at his school, and he says, "I tried to do as many pirouettes and entrechats as I could." Unfortunately, he was concentrating so hard on these acrobatic dance feats that he was totally unaware until the dance was over that he had split his pants.
Kevin McHale, General Manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves, spent hours teaching rookie Kevin Garnett how to play under the basket. At one point in his rookie season, Mr. Garnett worried about his statistics; they were lower than he would have liked, perhaps because he had entered the NBA straight out of high school instead of playing basketball in college like most other NBA stars. Mr. McHale showed Mr. Garnett the rookie stats of such NBA stars as Shawn Kemp and Scottie Pippen. Mr. McHale told Mr. Garnett, "Take a good look. These aren't much different from your numbers. These players have gone on to become stars. The last thing I need is for you to get discouraged. I don't care how good you are. I care how good you will be." Mr. Garnett was good, and he quickly became much better.
If you want a great education, study under people who really know their stuff. After graduating from art school, Judy Chicago noticed that art galleries featured work that was highly polished and highly crafted. She wanted to learn to do that, and she remembered what sculptor John Chamberlain had often advised her: "What I should do is go to auto-body school. Those are the guys who really know how to paint." Ms. Chicago did exactly that. Her class consisted of herself and 250 men. She says, "I learned not only how to spray-paint, but about respect for the object-that I was actually creating a physical object." For her final examination, she spray-painted a Chevrolet truck.
Dalmatians are associated with firefighters. In Springfield, Missouri, a trained Dalmatian named Becky Thatcher taught children fire safety. A firefighter would talk at a school assembly or other event to children about safety, and Becky did tricks to make the lessons easy to remember. For example, the firefighter would talk about what to do if your clothing caught on fire: stop, drop, and roll. As the firefighter talked, Becky stopped, dropped, and rolled. Following one of these assemblies, a parent wrote the fire department that because of the firefighter and Becky, in an emergency the parent's own child had stopped, dropped, and rolled-and put out the flames.
In 1950, George Balanchine went to England to work with the Sadler's Wells Ballet and stage Ballet Imperial. While there, he stayed with the noted choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton. Later, they talked over those good old days together, and Mr. Balanchine told Sir Frederick, "You know, you really taught me something." Mr. Balanchine's then-wife, Tanaquil Le Clercq, listened closely, hoping to learn something important about ballet, but Mr. Balanchine explained, "Yes, you taught me alwaysto pile up the dinner dishes in the sink and run water over them before your charwoman arrived."
Isiah Thomas left college before he graduated so he could make big bucks in the NBA. His not getting a degree disappointed his mother even though he bought her a nice house in a nice neighborhood, so she made him sign a contract saying that he would earn his college degree. On the same day that her son made a last-second shot to win a playoff game against Atlanta, she picked up his diploma. Talking with Isiah on the telephone, she was so excited about his getting a degree that she didn't even ask him about the playoff game.
Buddy Collette helped to join a white musicians' union group (Musicians Local 47) and a black musicians' union group (Musicians Local 767) together. In doing so, he had help from African-American celebrity Josephine Baker, who spoke to an integrated audience, saying that she didn't see why there were two (segregated) locals; after all, the audience was integrated. She saw two little girls in the audience, one white and one black, and she spoke for a moment to them. The two little girls hugged each other, and Ms. Baker said, "I think you can learn a lot from these youngsters."
Many of Aesop's fables contain wisdom-something that you would expect from teaching stories. For example, the fable of the lion and the mouse teaches children about kindness: A lion caught a mouse and prepared to eat it. The mouse begged for its life, and the lion felt pity and released it. Soon afterward, a trap made of ropes caught the lion, and although the lion struggled mightily, it could not get free. The mouse heard the lion's roars and quickly chewed through the ropes, releasing the lion.
R. Mendel, a Hassid, looked for a place to establish a House of Learning. He journeyed from city to city, and in each city he was welcomed and asked to establish his House of Learning in that city. But each time R. Mendel moved on. Eventually, he came to Kotzk, a city where people who opposed Hassidism met him and who threatened him with clubs. R. Mendel then said, "This is the place," and he established his House of Learning in Kotzk.
British long-distance runner Paula Radcliffe attended Sharnbrook upper school in Bedfordshire during 1987-1992. Vaughan Caradice was her maths teacher. One day Mr. Caradice was writing an exam question on the chalkboard when young Paula gently told him, "You might want to have another look at that." Mr. Caradice says, "When Paula says that, you have another look-and she was right: I'd made a mistake."
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
My 'good' computer is having major problems and must go into the shop.
It's old, and parts will have to be ordered, so it may be days.
I should still be able to get a page up, but I'll be working with flash drives and a borrowed/shared computer.
Please, if you send me anything, get it here before 7pm (pst).
Since I don't have the luxury of being able to pop online whenever - for the time being - get it here early!
Peter Jackson's New Documentary Project
The Beatles
Peter Jackson's next project has been announced: a revised version of The Beatles documentary Let It Be.
The Lord of the Rings filmmaker will use 55 hours of in-studio footage initially filmed by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg for the original 1970 film.
Paul McCartney has previously hinted that a new version of Let It Be was being worked on, having been disappointed with the original's downbeat take on the recording sessions - which took place just a year before the band broke up.
Jackson said in a statement of making the new film: "The 55 hours of never-before-seen footage and 140 hours of audio made available to us ensure this movie will be the ultimate 'fly on the wall' experience that Beatles fans have long dreamt about.
For those fans intrigued by Lindsay-Hogg's original film, Apple has confirmed that his version will be released "following the release of this new film".
The Beatles
CBS All Access to Adapt 'The Stand'
Stephen King
CBS All Access is going to adapt "The Stand," Stephen King's 1978 novel, into a 10-episode limited series.
The adaptation will be written and directed by Josh Boone, who is best known for directing "The Fault in Our Stars," and is currently helming the "X-Men" film, "New Mutants."
"The Stand" is King's apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil. The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail and a handful of survivors. Their worst nightmares are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the Dark Man. The novel marks the first appearance of Flagg, a frequent villain that pops up in King's other works.
The series will be produced by CBS Television Studios. Boone and Ben Cavell will write and executive produce, with Roy Lee, Jimmy Miller and Richard P. Rubinstein also serving as executive producers. Will Weiske and Miri Yoon are attached as co-executive producers, with Owen King as a producer.
Stephen King
Streaming Service Launches In April
Criterion Channel
Streaming service FilmStruck-the platform for cinema connoisseurs as opposed to boorish movie fans-was shuttered last year, despite pleas from pretty much everybody to keep the site afloat, but that bad news was softened somewhat by the announcement that Criterion would be taking the opportunity relaunch its own Criterion Channel streaming service at some point in the future. Now we know exactly when that point is, with Criterion announcing today that the new Criterion Channel app (available on everything that has apps, pretty much) and website will launch on April 8.
The service will feature "new thematic programming every night of the week" along with a "constantly refreshed selection of Hollywood, international, art-house, and independent movies," not to mention regular access to Criterion's existing library. That seems to answer the biggest question that people had about this post-FilmStruck version of Criterion Channel, which was whether or not it would have movies that aren't part of the Criterion Collection. As for what other fancy things are in the works, the press release says there will also be a Sunday Spotlight featuring a new director, star, genre, or theme every week and new exclusive "programming" like the return of the "Adventures In Moviegoing" feature.
The catch, of course, is that this will cost money, specifically $11 per month or $100 for a year. However, if you're a Charter subscriber and you sign up before April 8, you'll get a 30-day free trial and reduced pricing of $10 per month and $90 per year for life-or at least as long as you remain subscribed.
Criterion Channel
Wife Groped
Ace Frehley
Last year, original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley told Yahoo Entertainment that he was willing to join KISS's "End of the Road" farewell tour "for the right price" - but in light of a nasty, newly escalated feud between Frehley and his ex-bandmate Gene Simmons, that now seems highly unlikely.
Frehley, who acrimoniously left KISS in 1982 and temporarily returned for a massively successful reunion tour in 1996, took to Facebook Tuesday evening to blast Simmons, threatening that "THE S*** WILL HIT THE FAN" and "the gloves are off," calling Simmons an "a**hole" and "sex addict," and even accusing Simmons of groping his wife at a 2018 event.
Frehley was apparently incensed by a new interview Simmons did with Guitar World, in which Simmons addressed speculation regarding whether Frehley and original KISS drummer Peter Criss would participate in KISS's "End of the Road" farewell tour. Simmons described the former band members as unreliable and declared they were "never going to be in KISS again."
Frehley then lashed out on Facebook, noting that he has been sober for 12 years and claiming that he quit KISS and was never fired. "Your slanderous remarks about my bad habits over the years has cost me millions of dollars.
You and Paul [Stanley] have tried to derail my solo career multiple times over the years unsuccessfully," he wrote. "I've tried to be nice and friendly
but today's comments have made me realize you're just an a**hole and a sex addict who's being sued by multiple women, and you're just trying to sweep it all under the carpet!"
The biggest bombshell came when Frehley alleged that one of the many women who have been sexually assaulted by Simmons is Frehley's own wife - and he hinted that he may even take legal action against his former bandmate.
Ace Frehley
How Much For 2019 Super Bowl
Commercials
On Sunday, huge brands like Budweiser and Pepsi will once again spend millions of dollars from their advertising budgets in the hopes of catching your attention during what should be the year's most-watched television event: Super Bowl LIII.
This year's host network, CBS, is charging a record $5.25 million for just a 30-second spot during the championship match-up between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots, reports CNBC's Julia Boorstin.
That's roughly $175,000 per second.
The price is up slightly from last year's $5.2 million, and $1 million more than the cost to air a commercial during the 2014 Super Bowl. In just over a decade, the price of the average Super Bowl ad has nearly doubled, as the average 30-second ad cost $2.69 million in 2008, according to Nielsen Media Research.
If you go all the way back to the first-ever Super Bowl, in 1967, ads cost anywhere from $37,500 to $42,500, based on Nielsen's numbers, while 1995 marked the first year that the average cost crept into the millions, when 30-second ads sold for $1.15 million (up from $900,000 the previous year).
Commercials
Enormous Cavity Growing Beneath
Antarctica
Antarctica is not in a good place. In the space of only decades, the continent has lost trillions of tonnes of ice at alarming rates we can't keep up with, even in places we once thought were safe.
Now, a stunning new void has been revealed amidst this massive vanishing act, and it's a big one: a gigantic cavity growing under West Antarctica that scientists say covers two-thirds the footprint of Manhattan and stands almost 300 metres (984 ft) tall.
This huge opening at the bottom of the Thwaites Glacier - a mass infamously dubbed the "most dangerous glacier in the world" - is so big it represents an overt chunk of the estimated 252 billion tonnes of ice Antarctica loses every year.
Researchers say the cavity would once have been large enough to hold some 14 billion tonnes of ice. Even more disturbing, the researchers say it lost most of this ice volume over the last three years alone.
The Thwaites Glacier actually holds in neighbouring glaciers and ice masses further inland. If its buttressing force disappeared, the consequences could be unthinkable, which is why it's considered such a pivotal natural structure in the Antarctic landscape.
Antarctica
Valentine's Day Auction
"The Heart of Space"
Valentine's Day is hurtling toward us again like so much extraterrestrial debris - and, to celebrate, the venerable Christie's auction house is selling off a heart-shaped meteorite than rained hell on Siberia several decades ago.
The heart-shaped hunk of space iron (dubbed "The Heart of Space" by Christie's) is one of 45 meteorites going up for online auction from Feb. 6 to 14. While some lots are expected to sell for as little as $500, the Heart of Space could fetch upward of $500,000, according to a news release from Christie's.
Part of the rock's astronomical starting bid comes from its backstory. According to the Christie's website, the meteorite was one of hundreds of shards that splintered off a 200,000-pound chunk of pure iron (90,000 kilograms) and rained down over the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in Siberia in February, 1947. When these fragments finally crashed into the mountains, the resulting shockwaves shattered windows, collapsed chimneys, toppled trees and roared with sonic booms that were audible hundreds of miles away. It was very romantic.
While many of the meteorite fragments found after the incident are jagged, shrapnel-like lumps, the Heart of Space likely broke off its parent meteor higher up in the atmosphere and was subsequently carved into a more aerodynamic shape as it rocketed toward the ground at tens of thousands of miles an hour, according to Christie's.
If this little piece of flaming space chaos is too rich for your blood, other lots in the auction include rare meteorites flecked with extraterrestrial gemstones (known as pallasites), meteorites that got catapulted off of the moon and landed on Earth, and a slice of the 15-ton (13.6 metric tonne) Willamette meteorite - a fixture of the American Museum of Natural History and "the most famous meteorite in the world," according to Christie's. Whether you can bring one of these celebrity stones home or not, we hope your Valentine's Day rocks.
"The Heart of Space"
In Memory
Dick Miller
Dick Miller, a prolific screen actor best known for his role as Murray Futterman in the 1984 classic horror film "Gremlins," has died. He was 90.
With a career spanning more than 60 years, Miller has made hundreds of on screen appearances, beginning in the 1950s with legendary director and producer Roger Corman. It was then that he starred as Walter Paisley - a character the actor would reprise throughout his career - in the cult classic "A Bucket of Blood," before going on to land roles on projects such as "The 'Burbs," "Fame" and "The Terminator."
Miller also boasts a long history of high-profile director partnerships, working with the likes of James Cameron, Ernest Dickerson, Martin Scorsese, John Sayles and, perhaps most notably, Joe Dante, who used Miller in almost every project he helmed.
In one of Dante's earlier films, "Piranha," Miller played Buck Gardner, a small-time real estate agent opening up a new resort on Lost River Lake. The only catch? A large school of genetically altered piranha have accidentally been released into the resort's nearby rivers. Next up was a police chief role in the 1979 film "Rock 'n' Roll High School" before reprising the Walter Paisley mantle as an occult bookshop owner in Dante's 1981 horror film "The Howling."
Other notable appearances include the 1986 cult favorite "Night of the Creeps," where he shared the screen with Tom Atkins as a police ammunitions officer named Walt - he supplies Atkins with some necessary firepower in the face of an alien worm-zombie invasion - and a pawnshop owner in James Cameron's 1984 hit "The Terminator; the same year he appeared in yet another of Dante's films, "Gremlins."
Most recently, Miller reprised the role of Walter Paisley for a final time as a rabbi in Eben McGarr's horror film "Hanukkah."
Miller is survived by his wife Lainie, daughter Barbara and granddaughter Autumn.
Dick Miller
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