from Bruce
Anecdotes
Children
• Like father, like son. When comedian Robin Williams was a boy, he had a large collection of various kinds of toy soldiers, and he would engage the soldiers in time-machine battles. For example, he would pit World War II soldiers with machine guns against knights in shining armor. Zach, Robin’s son, is also original. At his first formal-wear event, he didn’t wear a tuxedo — he wore camouflage and Doc Martin boots.
• As a boy, Quaker humorist Tom Mullen attended Boys’ State, where a military officer inspected him and some other lads. Young Tom had some fuzz on his cheeks, so the officer asked, “What’s the matter, son? Don’t you have a razor?” Young Tom replied, “Yes, sir, but I don’t lend it to strangers.” The witticism drew laughs from the other boys — and the largest number of demerits possible from the officer.
• Ron Howard, of course, was only five years old when he started co-starring in The Andy Griffith Show. Later, he became a renowned Hollywood director. Comedian George Lindsey, who played Goober, was once asked what he thought of his little co-star Ronny’s work as a director. He replied, “We call him Mr. Howard now.”
• The early life of comedian Bill Cosby was not one of privilege. One place he lived in as a child lacked a bathtub, so the Cosby children would put a metal tub on the stove to heat the water, then move the tub to the floor and take a bath.
Christmas
• When Fanny Brice’s husband, Nicky Arnstein, went to jail, Fanny kept the truth from their children, telling them that their father was working in Paris. For Christmas, the children wrote their father, telling him that they wanted a pair of rabbits for Christmas. Fanny therefore arranged to have two rabbits shipped from Paris to their home, along with lots of food and water to keep the rabbits healthy. However, when the crate was opened in the United States, many more than two rabbits hopped out — the journey had been long, and the rabbits had been doing what rabbits do. The children thought that their father had been especially generous that Christmas.
• One Christmas, comedian W.C. Fields called a locksmith to come to his house on an emergency. When the locksmith arrived, Mr. Field showed him a door with a lock in which a key had been broken. “My best friend is trapped in there!” Mr. Fields cried. “Do something before he smothers to death!” However, when the locksmith opened the door, nothing was to be found except many, many bottles of liquor.
• Early in his career, stand-up comedian Greg Dean made little money and consequently had no money to buy Christmas presents. Therefore, he developed a comedy routine, then went to the houses of his friends and relatives, where he gave the routine and made that their Christmas present.
Clothing
• Comedian Fannie Brice needed time to develop a sense of fashion. When Ziegfeld Follies impresario Florenz “Flo” Ziegfeld invited her and Lillian Lorraine to dinner, Fannie went all out in acquiring what she thought was an outfit that would impress Mr. Ziegfeld. Among other items, she bought a hat that looked as if it was growing a vegetable garden. Unfortunately, her outfit horrified Mr. Ziegfeld, who was a man of taste. He told Ms. Lorraine, a woman of taste, “Why don’t you take this kid out and teach her how to dress? Here is $250. Get her some clothes.” Ms. Brice did not throw her hat away, but instead she sold it to Ms. Lorraine’s maid. Unfortunately for Mr. Ziegfeld, the maid wore the hat one day while traveling with Ms. Lorraine. Mr. Ziegfeld saw the hat, and he was so upset that he told the maid, “I never want to see that hat again. I’ll give you $25 [a lot of money in the early 20th century] to get rid of it.
• Early in their careers, British comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders shared a house. Ms. Saunders was known for being disorganized and messy, although she later became much neater after having children. Unfortunately, their house was broken into. They called the police, who investigated and said, “Well, it is quite bad, but the worst is that room at the top.” Actually, the burglars hadn’t entered the room at the top. That room was Ms. Saunders’ room, and it was in its usual messy state. Ms. French says about Ms. Saunders, “She used to be up to her knees in old pants.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Putin Lights Up The Fires"
Single: This is a one-sided single.
Artists:
The Coathangers
and
… And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead
Artists Location:
The Coathangers: Atlanta, Georgia
and
… And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead: Austin, Texas
Info:
This one-sided single is a Pussy Riot cover by the Coathangers with … And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead to benefit Ukraine.
Give a dollar or more if you got it. Thank you for your support.
All proceeds will be donated to CARE for its Ukraine Crisis Fund, which will provide immediate aid including food, water, hygiene kits, support services and direct cash assistance. Prioritizing women, families, and the elderly, CARE aims to help at least 4 million Ukrainians affected by the crisis.
Originally released November 5, 2012. Features members of … And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead and The Coathangers, “Putin Lights Up The Fires” is a translated cover of a Pussy Riot song.
All instrumentation by … And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead with vox by members of The Coathangers.
lowglider, a fan, wrote, “Support Ukraine in these difficult absurd times with this kick-ass track. Go-Go-Coathangers!”
The Coathangers are signed with Suicide Squeeze.
Price: $1 (USD) or more, if you wish.
Genre: Punk.
Links:
“Putin Lights Up the Fires”
The Coathangers on Bandcamp
… And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead Wikipedia Article
Suicide Records on Bandcamp
… And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead on YouTube
Other Links:
Bruce’s Music Recommendations: FREE pdfs
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
davidbrucebooks: EDUCATE YOURSELF - Free PDFs
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Stephen Suggests
Fourth Great Turning
New Venture
Michael Egan
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
Recommended
Ukraine is not yet lost" - National Anthem of Ukraine
La Marseillaise Casablanca
PUTIN CONSIDERS THESE PEOPLE ENEMIES AND IS TRYING TO KILL THEM AND SOMETIMES SUCCEEDING
Ruslana Lotsman. Commander Marusya
NOTE: A YouTube comment stated (translated), “Glory to Ukraine!”
Ukrainian Children Becoming Casualties of War
[Birthday Dance]
Other Links:
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
davidbrucebooks: EDUCATE YOURSELF - Free PDFs
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
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
All kinds of stuff blooming.
Comedy Series Gets Boost
“Servant of the People”
Countries are snapping up the rights to “Servant of the People” — a comedy series starring the Ukrainian President, as the Ukrainian President.
Back in 2015, former actor and comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy played Vasiliy Petrovich Goloborodko, a high school teacher propelled to the presidency after a student’s video of him denouncing official corruption in Ukraine goes viral.
Goloborodko sets about running the country while eschewing the perks of being leader by keeping hold of his normal life.
A hit in Ukraine, where it ran for three seasons and a spin-off movie, interest in the show has peaked since Zelenskyy became the face of the nation as it endures attacks from Russia.
“Servant of the People”
New Line
Dr. Seuss
Sketches of fantastic creatures by Dr. Seuss that have never before been published will see the light of day in new books being written and illustrated by an inclusive group of up-and-coming authors and artists, the company that owns the intellectual property rights to Dr. Seuss’ works announced Wednesday.
The new line of books will include original stories inspired by previously unpublished illustrations selected from the author’s archives at the University of California San Diego, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said in a statement on the late writer’s birthday.
The announcement comes exactly one year after the business founded by the family of Dr. Seuss — whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel — announced that it would stop publishing six Dr. Seuss titles because they include racist and insensitive images, a decision that drew both condemnation and praise.
The new authors and illustrators will represent a diverse cross-section of racial backgrounds to represent as many families as possible, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said. Company officials were not available to comment, a spokesperson said.
Dr. Seuss
Helmet Sells At Auction
Amelia Earhart
A leather helmet that Amelia Earhart wore on a flight across the Atlantic in 1928 and later lost in a crowd of fans in Cleveland has sold at auction for $825,000.
The helmet went to an anonymous bidder in an online-only sale that closed Sunday, a spokesperson for Heritage Auctions said.
The seller was Anthony Twiggs, a 67-year-old Minnesotan who had tried for years to prove that the leather aviator’s helmet he inherited from his mother was really Earhart’s.
Twiggs inherited the helmet after his mother’s death more than 20 years ago but had a difficult time convincing experts that it really had belonged to Earhart, who disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.
That changed last fall when Twiggs succeeded in using photo matching technology to authenticate the helmet, which exactly matched the one seen in the 1928 photos, the Times said.
Amelia Earhart
Broadway Theater Renamed
James Earl Jones
The Shubert Organization’s Cort Theatre on Broadway will be renamed after James Earl Jones, fulfilling a promise by the theater giant to honor a Black artist in such a way.
The James Earl Jones Theatre renaming is “in recognition of Mr. Jones’ lifetime of immense contributions to Broadway and the entire artistic community,” according to a statement by the Shuberts.
Jones has appeared in 21 Broadway productions, including two at the Cort Theatre. He is an Emmy-, Grammy-, Oscar- and Tony-winner, including stage awards for best actor for “The Great White Hope” and “Fences,” as well as a lifetime achievement award in 2017.
The Cort Theatre — at 138 W. 48th St. — is 110 years old and was built by and named for John Cort, general manager of the Northwestern Theatrical Association, who died in 1929. There are 41 Broadway theaters — four are named for women and now two for Black artists.
James Earl Jones
'Criminal Conspiracy'
Jan. 6 Panel
The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection said Wednesday night that its evidence shows former President Donald Trump and his associates engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election, spread false information about the outcome and pressured state officials to overturn it.
The committee made the claims in a filing in response to a lawsuit by Trump adviser John Eastman. Eastman, a lawyer who was consulting with Trump the unindicted conspirator as he attempted to overturn the election, is trying to withhold documents from the committee as it investigates the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. The committee argued there is a legal exception to attorney-client privilege allowing the disclosure of communications regarding ongoing or future crimes.
“The Select Committee also has a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States,” the committee wrote in a filing submitted in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.
The 221-page filing marks the committee’s most formal effort to link the former president to a federal crime, though the actual import of the filing is not clear since lawmakers do not have the power to bring charges on their own and can only make a referral to the Justice Department. The department has been investigating last year’s riot, but has not given any indication that it is considering seeking charges against Trump Putin's fanboy.
Jan. 6 Panel
Old Stone Age Culture Discovered
China
Scientists discovered remnants of an Old Stone Age culture, less than 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Beijing, where ancient hominins used a reddish pigment called ochre and crafted tiny, blade-like tools from stone. The archaeological site, called Xiamabei, offers a rare glimpse into the life of Homo sapiens and now-extinct human relatives who inhabited the region some 40,000 years ago.
The newly excavated site lies within the Nihewan Basin, a depression in a mountainous region of northern China. The excavation team found evidence of the culture about 8 feet (2.5 meters) underground, when they spotted a layer of dark, silty sediment that dated to between 41,000 and 39,000 years ago, based on radiocarbon dating and other analyses. This Stone Age sediment contained a treasure trove of artifacts and animal remains, including more than 430 mammal bones; a hearth; physical evidence of ochre use and processing; a tool made of bone; and more than 380 miniaturized lithics, or small tools and artifacts made of chipped or ground stone.
Identifying a 40,000-year-old sediment layer strewn with such artifacts was "a surprise," co-senior author Francesco d'Errico, a CNRS Director of Research at the Bordeaux University and professor at the University of Bergen, told Live Science in an email. Notably, "this is the earliest-known ochre workshop for East Asia," and the collection of tiny stone tools suggests that the makers likely produced and used specialized tool kits, he said.
The evidence of ochre processing at Xiamabei includes two pieces of ochre with slightly different mineral compositions, as well as an elongated limestone slab with smoothed areas stained with the crimson pigment. The team found these artifacts in close proximity to one another, laying atop an area of reddened sediment.
China
Eating Bats
False Widow Spider
The black widow’s deadly bite is feared among arachnophobes, a reputation that’s rubbed off somewhat unfairly on the noble false widow (Steatoda nobilis) whose bite isn’t actually all that venomous to humans but can transfer antibiotic resistant bacteria leading to serious infections. However, these spiders have recently proven that they still pack quite a punch as one was spotted catching, killing, and eating a mammal for the first time.
The ambitious arachnid’s unconventional meal was spotted in a web outside an attic in Shropshire, Britain, where one dead juvenile bat and a still-alive adult bat were found trapped in a web. The researchers behind the novel observation also believe it to be the first reported case of a tangle-web spider (Theridiidae family) killing a bat globally, and the first vertebrate killed by such a spider in Britain.
In their paper “Webslinger vs. Dark Knight First record of a false widow spider Steatoda nobilis preying on a pipistrelle bat in Britain,” published in Ecosphere, they describe how the noble false widow spider has expanded its range globally, including parts of Europe.
The observation was made possible thanks to a roost of bats that had – in an example of scientific serendipity – taken up residence in one of the study author’s attics in north Shropshire. They were joined in spring, 2021, by a large false widow spider who built a web on the corner of an external chimney breast.
False Widow Spider
Rising Up As Glaciers Melt
Andes
The glaciers on the Andes mountain range are melting quickly at some of the fastest rates on the planet but scientists have been confused as to why the ground beneath them is rising up rapidly too - until now.
When glaciers melt, a tremendous weight is lifted from the ground that once supported them.
The newly unburdened earth rebounds and rises - but in Patagonia, it’s happening to an extreme level.
Geologists have discovered a link between recent ice mass loss, rapid rock uplift and a gap between tectonic plates that underlie Patagonia, using a seismic study of the Patagonian Andes.
Andes
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