Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Garrison Keillor: Hopes (and Doubts) Bloom With Spring (tmsfeatures.com)
It is spring glorious spring (da do ron ron ron da do ron ron) and our gallant president has rallied his fractious forces against wacko demagoguery, the crocuses are up, and birds are returning from the South, preferring to raise their children here in Minnesota where we pull our pants on one leg at a time and not all at once. Some people in Washington haven't managed to get their pants on in years.
JINGYING YANG: As Colleges Make Courses Available Free Online, Others Cash In (nytimes.com)
A computer in Logan, Utah, holds syllabus details, lecture notes, problem sets and exams from more than 80 Utah State University courses: but this is no secret cheat-sheet site put together by rogue hackers and pirates.
Kathy M. Kristof: Old-fashioned investing advice still applies (latimes.com)
How does Bogle suggest you play this market? The same way you should have played it a decade ago -- or a decade from now. Invest your age in bonds, he suggests, and the rest in stocks.
Adam Kirsch: The Slippery Scientist (slate.com)
Ian McEwan on the gulf between goodness and intelligence.
KEVIN HARTNETT: "Reading 'War and Peace': The Effects of Great Art on an Ordinary Life" (themillions.com)
... having recently finished reading War and Peace, what I want to think about is just what it is that great art does.
Anthony Gottlieb: What Do Philosophers Believe? (moreintelligentlife.com)
The great philosophers of old are remembered largely by their posthumous contributions to dictionaries of quotations. How is an ordinary person to know what today's professional philosophers think?
George Varga: Singers Surfing to Stardom on a New Sound Wave (creators.com)
Not being able to sing was once considered a detriment for aspiring pop stars. So was lip-syncing, at least at "live" performances. But those days have passed, even as each year's new crop of "American Idol" finalists seems determined to engage in vocal gymnastics.
Robert Sandall: "Natalie Merchant: Lady Goo Goo" (timesonline.co.uk)
The American singer-songwriter sold her house to fund an album of nonsense verse involving 130 musicians and old poems.
Emma Brockes: The sensational Mr Sondheim (guardian.co.uk)
As the musicals maestro turns 80, Emma Brockes explains his extraordinary magic - while Angela Lansbury and other stars reveal what it's like to work with him.
Jonathan Jones: Leonardo or Michelangelo: who is the greatest? (guardian.co.uk)
Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo - who was the greater artist? A close look at their two masterpieces offers clues - but in fact the truth had already been established in an extraordinary competition.
Germaine Greer: What a petrol-sniffing Aboriginal boy tells us about Australia today (guardian.co.uk)
Warwick Thornton's film 'Samson and Delilah,' about a petrol-sniffing boy, tells us much about the inability of Aboriginal people to make themselves understood by whitefellas.
Roger Ebert: Review of "LEAVES OF GRASS" (R; 4 stars)
One of the year's best, and Ed Norton times two.
David Bruce: William Sleator's "Oddballs": A Discussion Guide (lulu.com)
Download: FREE
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'Ten Little Questions' Edition
It's Census time again! (What? Already? Didn't we just do this 10 years ago?)
so, just fer fun, I'll add four of my own...
1.) Did you fill out your census form and send it back yet?
2.) If not, will you?
3.) Did you answer all the questions?
4.) If not, what questions didn't you answer and why?
(Warning! Big Brother says we have to fill it out and return it otherwise we'll get a knock on the door from the friendly Census Police politely asking us to do so...
Go easy on the poor bastards, eh? They're mostly unemployed people trying to make a few bucks and probably are scared to death that they're gonna get slammed. It's not their fault, OK?... P.S. you answers here are entirely confidential and will not be shared with ANYBODY, especially You-Know-Who...)
BadtotheboneBigBrother...er, Bob
Send your response to
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and windy.
Best In Electronic Media
Peabody Awards
ABC's "Modern Family," Fox's "Glee," HBO's "In Treatment" and Craig Ferguson were among the 36 recipients of Peabody Awards unveiled Wednesday by the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The winners, chosen by the Peabody board as the best in electronic media for 2009, reflect wide diversity in genre, sources of origination and content.
The recipients included the aforementioned "Modern Family," ABC's droll, perceptive comedy about a multicultural extended family; HBO's "Thrilla in Manila," a documentary that probes the hype, mythology and meaning of the politically charged Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fights in the early 1970s; and "The Great Textbook War," a radio documentary from West Virginia Public Broadcasting about a 1974 skirmish that presaged "cultural wars" still raging in America.
"Jerome Robbins -- Something to Dance About," an insightful portrait of the director-choreographer from Thirteen/WNET's "American Masters," received a Peabody, as did the Desmond Tutu installment of CBS's "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," described by the board as "a talk show without borders."
Peabody Awards
Complete List of 2009 Peabody Award Winners
Calls Out Rupert's Repackaging
LL Cool J
An upcoming Fox Rupert News Channel special hosted by Sarah Palin is titled "Real American Stories."
But rapper-actor LL Cool J says his participation in the show was bogus.
In a Twitter posting late Tuesday, the entertainer wrote that "Fox lifted an old interview I gave in 2008 to someone else & are misrepresenting to the public in order to promote Sarah Palins Show. WOW."
"Real American Stories," which debuts Thursday at 10 p.m. EDT, is hosted by Palin, the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate, who joined Fox News Channel as a regular contributor in January. The one-hour program is described by Fox News as "the first installment of a new series" that features "real-life tales of overcoming adversity throughout the American landscape."
LL Cool J
Hong Kong Exhibit
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee's wife and daughter on Tuesday unveiled an exhibition of the late kung fu star's personal items, photos and movie posters in Hong Kong.
The exhibit, which includes a boxing head guard and a pair of sunglasses used by Lee, is part of a tribute to the late actor at the 34th Hong Kong International Film Festival. The festival is also hosting a seminar on his work this Sunday and screening nine of his movies in honor of what would have been his 70th birthday later this year.
"I think that he would be thrilled to know that his legacy has gone on and on for as long as it has and that it will continue to go on and inspire people for many, many more years to come," said Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee Keasler, who attended the opening ceremony with her mother, Linda Lee Cadwell.
Lee's daughter said earlier that plans to convert her father's old house in Hong Kong - now used as an hourly love motel - into a museum and to build a new museum in Seattle, where Lee studied and taught martial arts, are in the fundraising stage.
Bruce Lee
To Scientists - It's Serious
Laughter
So a scientist walks into a shopping mall to watch people laugh. There's no punchline. Laughter is a serious scientific subject, one that researchers are still trying to figure out.
Laughing is primal, our first way of communicating. Apes laugh. So do dogs and rats. Babies laugh long before they speak. No one teaches you how to laugh. You just do. And often you laugh involuntarily, in a specific rhythm and in certain spots in conversation.
You may laugh at a prank on April Fools' Day. But surprisingly, only 10 to 15 percent of laughter is the result of someone making a joke, said Baltimore neuroscientist Robert Provine, who has studied laughter for decades. Laughter is mostly about social responses rather than reaction to a joke.
"All language groups laugh `ha-ha-ha' basically the same way," he said. "Whether you speak Mandarin, French or English, everyone will understand laughter. ... There's a pattern generator in our brain that produces this sound."
Laughter
Ex-Rat Pack Hangout Closes
Cal Neva Lodge
Before the Las Vegas Strip ruled the gambling world, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. helped make the Cal Neva Lodge one of Nevada's coolest casinos in the early 1960s.
On Wednesday, roulette wheels will stop spinning and blackjack games will cease at Sinatra's old resort that straddles the Nevada-California border on Lake Tahoe's north shore at Crystal Bay.
While the resort's current owner hopes to reopen the casino under a new outside contractor by year's end, some analysts think the Cal Neva might have dealt its last hand. They said Tahoe casinos are particularly vulnerable to the double-whammy of the recession and competition from Las Vegas and Indian casinos.
Sinatra owned the Cal Neva from 1960 to 1963 during its heyday, drawing fellow Rat Pack members Martin, Davis and Peter Lawford, and stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Juliet Prowse.
Cal Neva Lodge
"Torn Memories of Nanjing"
Japan
For years, Japanese activist Tamaki Matsuoka tried to counter denials of her country's notorious wartime massacre of civilians in the city of Nanjing with books and photo exhibitions. Now the retired teacher says she has indisputable proof of the atrocities: Japanese veterans admitting on camera they forced themselves on Chinese women and mowed down Chinese refugees with machine guns.
Matsuoka was angered by accounts in her country's textbooks that whitewashed the crimes committed by Japan's Imperial Army during World War II. Her documentary, shown for the first time outside of Japan at the Hong Kong International Film Festival on Sunday, attempts to set the record straight.
Matsuoka isn't a professional filmmaker, but "Torn Memories of Nanjing" breaks new ground with interviews of both aggressors and victims - an elderly Chinese woman tearfully giving details about being sexually assaulted as a girl then a Japanese veteran admitting that he enjoyed rape.
The former soldiers even describe in detail the routine - holding victims down as a team, checking their private parts for sexually transmitted diseases and drawing lots to decide who would go first. Few veterans showed any remorse. Out of the 250 former soldiers she interviewed, only three expressed regret for their actions, Matsuoka said through a translator.
Japan
Pushing Back The Timeline
Paul VI
The head of a Roman Catholic order that specialized in the treatment of pedophile priests visited with the then-pope nearly 50 years ago and followed up with a letter recommending the removal of pedophile priests from ministry, according to a copy of the letter released Wednesday.
In the Aug. 27, 1963 letter, the head of the New Mexico-based Servants of the Holy Paraclete tells the pope he recommends removing pedophile priests from active ministry and strongly urges defrocking repeat offenders.
Rev. Gerald M.C. Fitzgerald opens the five-page letter by thanking the pope for an audience the day before and says he is summarizing his thoughts at the pope's request on the "problem of the problem priest" after 20 years working in to treat them.
The letter proves that Vatican officials knew about clergy abuse decades ago and should have done more to protect children, said Tony DeMarco, an attorney for clergy abuse victims in Los Angeles.
Paul VI
Swiss To Decide After Calif. Ruling
Roman Polanski
Switzerland's decision on extraditing Roman Polanski will be made after a California court rules whether he can be sentenced in absentia in a 33-year-old sex case, a Swiss official said Wednesday.
Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli told The Associated Press that a judgment on sending Polanski back to Los Angeles was still pending, but provided the clearest timeline to date for when Swiss authorities may close their examination.
Galli's statement adds even more weight to an upcoming verdict by California's 2nd District Court of Appeal.
If it grants Polanski's request to be sentenced in absentia, it could mean that the 76-year-old director avoids a forced return to the United States. The Swiss won't extradite him unless he is given a sentence longer than six months.
Roman Polanski
Rehab
Jesse James
Jesse James reportedly is seeking professional help to deal with "personal issues" after a cheating scandal that has put his nearly five-year marriage to Sandra Bullock on the line.
His representative told People magazine in a statement Tuesday that James "realized that this time was crucial to help himself, help his family and help save his marriage."
The representative did not specify the type of treatment facility.
Jesse James
Australia's Most Expensive Painting
"Ned Kelly"
Australia's most expensive painting, a Sidney Nolan "Ned Kelly" work, was given away on Wednesday only days after setting the nation's art record.
The painting, titled "First-Class Marksman," of Australia's iconic outlaw sold at auction last Thursday for A$5.4 million (US$4.96 million).
Less than a week later the previously anonymous buyer, the Gleeson O'Keefe Foundation, stepped forward and donated the painting to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.
Dubbed the missing Nolan, art market experts say the painting reached a staggering price because it was the only work in the Ned Kelly series that remained in private hands. The other 26 are at the Australian National Gallery in Canberra.
"Ned Kelly"
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of March 22-28. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. "Kids' Choice Awards" (Saturday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 4.51 million homes, 7.64 million viewers.
2. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.71 million homes, 4.86 million viewers.
3. "Victorious" (Saturday, 9:30 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.42 million homes, 5.70 million viewers.
4. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.41 million homes, 4.87 million viewers.
5. "Life" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Discovery, 3.36 million homes, 5.29 million viewers.
6. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.36 million homes, 5.11 million viewers.
7. "Life" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), Discovery, 3.34 million homes, 5.28 million viewers.
8. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.29 million homes, 4.75 million viewers.
9. "NCIS" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.17 million homes, 4.14 million viewers.
10. "NCIS" (Monday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.15 million homes, 4.25 million viewers.
10. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.15 million homes, 4.15 million viewers.
12. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.13 million homes, 3.95 million viewers.
13. "iCarly" (Sunday, 11 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.10 million homes, 4.56 million viewers.
14. "NCIS" (Thursday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.08 million homes, 3.96 million viewers.
15. "Penguins of Madagascar" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.08 million homes, 4.16 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
David Mills
David Mills, a veteran television writer who worked on the award-winning series "ER" and "The Wire," has died. He was 48.
Mills died Tuesday night in New Orleans, said HBO spokesman Diego Aldana, declining to provide any other information. No cause of death was released and an autopsy is pending.
Mills had been living in New Orleans while co-writing and acting as co-executive producer of the new HBO series "Treme." He wrote two of the upcoming episodes, which are being shot in the city. The drama is set to premiere April 11.
Wendell Pierce, who played Detective William "Bunk" Moreland on "The Wire," and plays a musician in "Treme," said Mills collapsed on the set Tuesday.
"He was carrying on a conversation and just fell over," Pierce said. "They called the medics, but there was nothing to be done."
Mills began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post, before turning to screenwriting. Besides "ER" and "The Wire," he worked on the HBO drama "The Corner" and "Homicide: Life on the Street," among other shows.
Mills started his television writing career with longtime friend and "Wire" creator David Simon in 1994. The pair wrote an episode of "Homicide" that year, for which they won a Writers Guild of America award. Mills won Emmys for co-writing and executive producing the miniseries "The Corner" and an Edgar in 2007 for "The Wire."
David Mills
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