Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Readability (blog.arc90.com)
Makes reading on the Web easier by reducing the clutter around what you are reading.
Mark Morford: Cuddlin' With Evil (sfgate.com)
Obama shakes hands with people we're supposed to hate. Are we all going to die?
Johann Hari: Why the Wicked Witch Isn't Dead (slate.com)
The timeless allure of witch hunting.
Bob Jeffrey: "Millennials' New Mantra: Have Less, Imagine More" (huffingtonpost.com)
The Millennials, who were supposed to be the harbingers of a global interwebbed knowledge-based prosperity, are now inheritors of one of the greatest collapses of collective judgment this century has seen. Are they in denial, in disappointment or simply in disbelief?
Hey, where's my tip? (guardian.co.uk)
Hard times mean that tipping is going out of fashion. It may only be small change to you, but it's a serious blow for the taxi drivers, waiters and hairdressers who count on these tips. Emine Saner reports.
Michael Torrice: Biology instructor teaches complicated material through hip-hop parody (Santa Cruz Sentinel (Calif.)
In front of Stanford University's Main Quad, biologist Tom McFadden raps for a video camera. The flat bill of his Toronto Blue Jays baseball cap sits on the white rims of his sunglasses as he bounces his head to the beat. The video then cuts to him gesticulating in front of a projection screen that shows the cells of an embryo dividing.
Aaron Sagers: Pop 20: Pirates - when fiction meets fact
Yo ho, oh no-not a pirate's life for me, thanks.
Betsy Perry: The Obamas Are Making Us Smarter! Thanks Michelle & Barack for Stopping the Dumbing Down of America (huffingtonpost.com)
Within one 18-hour period I went to a dinner party where Noel Coward and New Yorker articles were discussed and then went to a luncheon where Proust was the subject; I tried desperately to contribute but could not find the material needed so clogged is my brain with topical trivia and news factoids. Can you imagine - I was actually forced to listen and learn?
Aaron Barnhart: 'Poisoned Waters' reveals dangers just beneath the surface (McClatchy Newspapers)
In the half-dozen times or so I've interviewed journalist Hedrick Smith about his "Frontline" specials for PBS, I've never heard him this emotional.
James Jackson: Pete Townshend on "Quadrophenia" (timesonline.co.uk)
The presiding genius of The Who explains why, after 36 years, he is putting his masterpiece Quadrophenia on to the musical stage.
Mark Stryker: At 82, it's the good life for Tony Bennett (Detroit Free Press)
Tony Bennett was simply mesmerizing when he appeared at the Detroit Opera House two years ago. Fronting a suave and swinging quartet, he delivered the glories of the great American songbook with an irresistibly relaxed rhythmic gait, a storyteller's ear for drama and a voice in remarkably solid shape as he entered his ninth decade. The ballads, especially, seemed to stop time dead in its tracks.
Sophie Heawood: When Depeche Mode met Ladytron (timesonline.co.uk)
What can electro-pioneers Depeche Mode teach newcomers Ladytron? Sophie Heawood witnesses a meeting of minds.
Nora Ephron: Stop the Music (huffingtonpost.com)
The worst thing about Susan Boyle -- and there are several, but I'm going to deal with only one -- is that she sings that horrible song.
The Weekly Poll
The 'Fantasy Island' Edition
Time out! I'm callin' a 'time out' from reality this week... No politics. No Economics. No wing-nuts. No war... Let's engage in a little reverie, shall we? C'mon! It'll be fun!
Given that you had the time and wherewithal to go anywhere you'd wish for a dream vacation, where would go to and what would you do once there?
Send your response, and a (short) reason why, to
Who created the old TV series Adventures In Paradise?
nailed it with:
on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe (Dr. Zorba) intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity."
Vic in AK
Mat Valley
On Monday, a moose died at Colony Middle School, but questions remain regarding its death.
Before teachers realized there was a moose on the grounds, a class of eighth-graders was released for P.E., said Mat-Su School District spokeswoman Catherine Esary. By all accounts, a group of students proceeded to taunt the moose, said Esary.
Moose dies at school; students disciplined
Thus reaffirming why the term "Valley Trash" is an apt one.
They start young out thar.
And
This has to be a Wasilla golf course!
Vic in AK
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
A return to seasonal temperatures.
21-Day Fast
Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow is so determined to embark on a potentially dangerous hunger strike, not even her doctor can talk her out of it.
The 64-year-old actress and humanitarian plans to begin fasting on Monday, and she has set a limit of 21 days - or until her health worsens. Farrow, who will drink water only, says she approached her doctor for advice, asserting, "Please don't even try to talk me out of this."
Farrow's hunger strike is a show of solidarity with the people of Darfur. She was inspired to do it after the Sudanese government expelled international aid agencies from the country last month.
Farrow says her doctor will be on call. In preparation, she's taking vitamins and eating fruits and vegetables, and she's gained 9 pounds.
Mia Farrow
Boyhood Home Marked
Roger Ebert
Film critic Roger Ebert's boyhood home is getting the thumbs up.
Officials in Urbana, Ill., decided to honor the Chicago Sun-Times critic by placing a bronze plaque on the sidewalk in front of 410 E. Washington St. That's where Ebert lived with his parents from his birth in 1942 until 1961.
The 66-year-old Ebert and his wife, Chaz, were in Urbana for Wednesday's ceremony.
Ebert became film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967. His annual film festival starts Wednesday and runs through Sunday at the historic Virginia Theatre in neighboring Champaign.
Roger Ebert
Can Relax Now
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand's liberal political voice rose to a crescendo in last year's U.S. presidential race but the singing legend says the election of President Barack Obama has allowed her to relax.
During her 2006 singing tour, she was joined onstage by an actor portraying former President George W. Bush as an inept fool, and in the campaign that followed she was so focused on seeing a Democrat elected, she said she went a little crazy.
"I was so incensed, so passionate about having a Democrat in the White House, I was insane. I was just crazed," Streisand told Reuters ahead of a new TV special and DVD release.
But with the new president in the White House, the Brooklyn-born singer, actress, producer and director is getting back to the business of entertaining. She appears in "Streisand: Live in Concert" on the CBS television network on Saturday.
Barbra Streisand
Photo Raffle
Bruce Springsteen
Help fight hunger and you just might end up with a rare Bruce Springsteen photo.
Vintage shots of the famous rocker will be awarded to 14 lucky fans who make donations of $25 or more to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.
Some of the biggest names in rock photography are participating and will sign prints for the winners. The photographers have made iconic images of Springsteen, including the album covers for "Born to Run," "Darkness on the Edge of Town," "Born in the U.S.A.," "The Rising" and other Springsteen albums.
Once 14,000 donations have been made to the food bank, 14 fans will be chosen at random to each receive a print. The contest starts Thursday morning. Fans can enter at www.backstreets.com/hunger
Bruce Springsteen
Piano Auction
Billy Joel
A baby grand autographed by the Piano Man is being sold to raise money for music students in New York City.
The $60,000 Steinway is being auctioned for a program at Mount Carmel-Holy Rosary School in East Harlem. Singer-songwriter Billy Joel will autograph it above the keyboard for the winning bidder.
The Mount Carmel program is run by Ten O'Clock Classics. Joel is a board member of the nonprofit group. It serves as a feeder program for the Music Advancement Program at the Juilliard School at Lincoln Center.
Auction proceeds will provide music theory classes, ear training and possibly individual lessons.
Billy Joel
'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' Returning
Regis Philbin
ABC is reviving "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" this summer, complete with host Regis Philbin.
A decade after "Millionaire" became a smash hit, it will return to prime time as an 11-night event, says ABC. It premieres Aug. 9, concluding Aug. 23.
The quiz show burst on the U.S. scene in August 1999. Philbin coined an instant catch phrase by asking his contestants, "Is that your final answer?"
Ratings slid when ABC aired the show too often, and it was canceled as a series in 2002. But renewed interest has been signaled by "Slumdog Millionaire," this year's Oscar-winning drama about a young contestant on a version of the show in India.
Regis Philbin
Police Recognize Rupert Publicity Stunt
'Slumdog Millionaire'
Indian police said Wednesday they have so far found no evidence that the father of a child star in the Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" tried to sell the 9-year-old girl to an undercover reporter.
Police opened an investigation following a complaint from Khurshid Begum, the estranged mother of "Slumdog Millionaire" star Rubina Ali, after News of the World reported the father planned to put her up for adoption. The British newspaper said the deal was allegedly offered to one of its reporters posing as a sheik from the Mideast.
But officers said so far they found nothing to back the claim of the British tabloid that the father, Rafiq Qureshi, offered to give up Ali for adoption in exchange for some $400,000.
The newspaper - owned by News International Ltd., the main British subsidiary of News Corp., which also owns "Slumdog" distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures - said the father was demanding millions of rupees for the girl.
'Slumdog Millionaire'
'Dog' Gooses Ratings
Hoang Nguyen
A Colorado man was arrested on Wednesday after eyewitnesses claimed he may have fired a gun at reality TV star Duane "Dog" Chapman as the racist bounty hunter tried to apprehend him, police said.
Hoang Nguyen, 35, is being held on suspicion of attempted murder for the Tuesday night incident in Colorado Springs, Colo., about 70 miles (113 km.) south of Denver, said police Lt. David Whitlock.
Chapman, star of the A&E network's "Dog the Bounty Hunter," escaped unharmed, Whitlock said.
Whitlock said Chapman, 56, and his partner Bobby Brown were at a Colorado Springs apartment complex trying to apprehend Nguyen for skipping bail on a number of failure-to-appear warrants when they apparently were shot at.
Hoang Nguyen
Ancient Temples Discovered
Sinai
Archaeologists exploring an old military road in the Sinai have unearthed four new temples amidst the 3,000-year-old remains of an ancient fortified city that could have been used to impress foreign delegations visiting Egypt, antiquities authorities announced Tuesday.
Among the discoveries was the largest mud brick temple found in the Sinai with an area of 70 by 80 meters (77 by 87 yards) and fortified with mud walls 3 meters (10 feet) thick, said Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The find was made in Qantara, 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) east of the Suez Canal. These temples mark the latest discovery by archaeologists digging up the remains of the city on the military road known as "Way of Horus." Horus is a falcon-headed god, who represented the greatest cosmic powers for ancient Egyptians.
The path once connected Egypt to Palestine and is close to present-day Rafah, which borders the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Sinai
What Global Warming?
Rivers
The flow of water in the world's largest rivers has declined over the past half-century, with significant changes found in about a third of the big rivers. An analysis of 925 major rivers from 1948 to 2004 showed an overall decline in total discharge.
The reduction in inflow to the Pacific Ocean alone was about equal to shutting off the Mississippi River, according to the new study appearing in the May 15 edition of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate.
The only area showing a significant increase in flow was the Arctic, where warming conditions are increasing the snow and ice melt, said researchers led by Aiguo Dai of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.
Rivers
Painter's Model
Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi appears with a giant pair of wings and little else in a new work of art, an equally scantily clad female minister next to him in the composition that is creating a sensation.
"I did it as a joke!" the artist, Filippo Panseca, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I've been doing all sorts of works for 50 years, I didn't expect to raise such clamor with this."
The work is all the more controversial because the minister portrayed next to the Italian premier, Mara Carfagna, had been on the receiving end of a Berlusconi compliment two years ago.
"If I weren't married I would marry you immediately," Berlusconi reportedly said to the woman, a 33-year-old former TV starlet who currently serves as minister for equal opportunities. The comment at the time enraged Berlusconi's wife, who publicly demanded an apology.
Berlusconi
Tops Jamaica's Best Song List
"One Love"
Reggae legend Bob Marley's "One Love" topped a list of Jamaica's 100 best songs over 50 years that was unveiled on Tuesday by a panel of musicians and cultural officials associated with the University of the West Indies.
The Top 10 songs and the singers were:
1. "One Love" - Bob Marley & the Wailers
2. "Oh Carolina" - The Folkes Brothers
3. "54-45" - The Maytals
4. "Got to Go Back Home" - Bob Andy
5. "My Boy Lollipop" - Millie Small
6. "Many Rivers To Cross" - Jimmy Cliff
7. "Israelites" - Desmond Dekker and the Aces
8. "Cherry Oh Baby" - Eric Donaldson
9. "Simmer Down" - Bob Marley & the Wailers
10. "Carry Go Bring Come" - Justin Hinds & the Dominos
"One Love"
Blasts EU Copyright Extension
Billy Bragg
British singer Billy Bragg blasted Wednesday a proposed European Union law to nearly double music copyright to 95 years, saying it would give a huge windfall to major recording labels.
Bragg said he didn't oppose longer copyrights but the EU plan "simply perpetuates recording contracts that were signed in the last 50 years," taking no account of the way the Internet is changing the recording industry.
He said these contracts gave artists a cut of 8 percent to 15 percent of the wholesale price of a record, which reflected the high costs - up to 65 percent - that labels paid to physically make and transport records.
"Now that they no longer have to do that, that money will go straight into their bottom line," he said. "This legislation offers the multinational record corporations a potential windfall of the size of the invention of the CD" when fans bought a second copy of albums they already owned on vinyl or cassette.
Billy Bragg
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