Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Garrison Keillor: What I learned from window replacement
I am drinking coffee this morning from a cup that says "Verum Bonum Pulchrum" - truth, goodness, beauty - an impossible ideal, but it's my sister-in-law's cup, not mine. Our apartment is undergoing window replacement so my love and I are being harbored by relatives. She sleeps in a handsome mahogany bed that belonged to her grandmother Hilda and I sleep on a hard single bed in the basement. Separation is good for a happy marriage like ours. We say good night and I trudge downstairs and lie in the dark on a skinny bed that is like the one I slept in when I was 17. So I close my eyes and it's 1959 and I'm considering my prospects in life.
Greg Sargent: Trump will have to defend his disastrous failures (Washington Post)
It's still possible that President Trump will secure a good trade deal with China. But it's looking more plausible that we face a protracted, destructive trade war and that Trump will end up with either no deal or a bad deal, either of which would badly undercut him on a signature issue heading into 2020, particularly if the extensive damage from his trade war continues to mount.
Steve Rose: "Block rockin' Beats: how a new coming-of-age indie captures the spirit of illegal raves" (The Guardian)
Beats is the latest film to focus on 90s rave culture and its political implications.
Graeme Virtue: "A song of ice and ire: how Game of Thrones enraged its audience" (The Guardian)
The biggest show on Earth has faltered unforgivably and fans are very angry indeed. Can it claw it back for the finale?
Sandra Newman: "The other side of Black Mirror: literary utopias offer the seeds of better real life" (The Guardian)
But we know it is possible to intentionally make the world more just, kind and generous - we've been doing it consistently for hundreds of years. From the perspective of the 17th century, western Europeans already live in utopia. Almost all infants live to adulthood. There's no sewage in city streets. Women own property on an equal footing with men. All children go to school. We have time to be outraged that chickens are ill-treated. What's more, these innovations were all partly or wholly the result of government action. By working together, we've completed a massive utopian project.
Hadley Freeman: Doris Day's public image was the one role she could never shake off (The Guardian)
'Girl next door' was a label that didn't suit a woman whose life was anything but ordinary.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
wrote:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
Opera singer Nellie Melba once toured the back-blocks - the remotest part of Australia. In one town, her concert was sold out. Some of the leading citizens neglected to buy tickets, thinking that they had discovered a way to hear Ms. Melba's concert for free. They used a ladder at the back of the hall to climb to the roof of the concert hall, where indeed they heard the concert for free. Unfortunately, the gardener discovered the ladder leading against the wall. Not wanting anyone to steal the ladder, he removed it and locked it up. After the concert, the town's leading free-loaders waited for everyone to leave, and then they discovered that they were stuck on the roof. Fortunately, about 5 a.m. a police officer happened by and rescued them. Ms. Melba wrote in her autobiography, Melodies and Memories, "I can well believe that that policeman lived comfortably on blackmail for the rest of his life." Another incident in the back-blocks involved a bill for some furniture. In honor of Ms. Melba, the hotel landlady ordered some fine furniture, which touched Ms. Melba. However, Ms. Melba was surprised to find the cost of the furniture added to her bill. Fortunately, her manager, John Lemmone, handled the situation. He said to the hotel landlady, "We shall be delighted to pay for the furniture, only of course if we do that, we shall take it away with us." The hotel landlady replied, "But I want it myself." Eventually, the hotel landlady concluded that if she wanted to keep the furniture she would have to pay for it.
Like many people (cough, cough), Walt Disney liked a good, funny story, and if it weren't true, so what? He used to tell a story about asking his young daughter, Diane, what girls her age would like to see at Disneyland, and she replied, "Boys." She heard about that anecdote and said to him, "I didn't say that!" He replied, "I know - but it's cute!" He was a good father, and he was better at business than many people gave him credit for (although his brother, Roy, who was more cautious than Walt, deserves enormous credit for Disney profitability). For example, when Walt was planning to build Disney World in central Florida, the Disney organization had already bought thousands of acres for the theme park. A large parcel of land came on the market, and Walt said, "Buy it!" Roy wondered whether they should do that. Walt asked, "Roy, how would you like to own 12,000 acres around Disneyland right now?" Roy said, "Buy it!" One more thing shows Walt's business sense. When times were hard, and the Disney organization was having to watch its expenses, Walt said, "I want a raise for certain men, my top animators; I want them to have higher salaries." When someone objected, Walt said, "I can't make pictures without those people. I can't hire bookkeepers to draw pictures for me."
Early in his career, Bill Hanna of Hanna-Barbera cartoon fame, worked for Harman-Ising, which - of course - made cartoons. By his third year, he had some responsibility - he was the head of the inking and painting department - and he was making $37.50 per week. But then one of his bosses, Rudy Ising, hired his girlfriend to work for Mr. Hanna in a job with less responsibility - at $60 a week. Mr. Hanna got really angry, and he headed over to the Disney Studio to ask Walk Disney for a job. Mr. Disney listened to Mr. Hanna and said, "I'll tell you, Bill, we already have a girl in our inking and painting department who's doing a h*ll of a good job. I suggest that you go back and tell Rudy about your problem and I'll bet that you get your money." Mr. Hanna did go back, and he thinks that Mr. Disney telephoned Mr. Ising and talked to him because Mr. Ising immediately walked into his office and said, "Bill, you're going to get your raise. From now on, you'll be drawing sixty dollars a week."
Joseph Barbera's wife, Sheila, came up with the idea to have Fred and Wilma Flintstone of the cartoon Flintstones have a baby. Mr. Barbera liked the idea and attended two days of meetings in which it was decided that the Flintstones should have a baby boy. Shortly afterward, he received a call from Ed Justin, who handled Hanna-Barbera merchandising in New York. Mr. Justin said, "I hear the Flintstones are having a baby." Then he asked, "Boy or girl?" Hearing the answer, "It's a boy! Fred, Jr. - a chip off the old rock," Mr. Justin said, "That's too bad. I've got the Vice President of Ideal Toy here, and the only dolls they're doing are girls. We could have had a hell of a deal if it had been a girl." Mr. Barbera immediately said, "It's a girl. Her name is
Pebbles. A pebble off the old rock." Mr. Barbera pointed out, "Some ideas develop after days of meetings. Others are born in the flash of a dollar sign set off by a single phone call."
Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's sidekick on The Tonight Show, worked for the American Family Publishers national sweepstakes, and pretty much everyone in the United States got a entry form, including Ed's six-month-old adopted daughter, Katherine Mary. Ed really did give away millions of the company's dollars. When politician Bob Dole got his entry form, he wrote Mr. McMahon, "As I am seriously considering running for President, I am prohibited by federal law from accepting contributions which exceed $1,000 per person.
However, Ed, I might suggest that you and your wife each contribute $1,000 and to make up the additional $9,998,000, ask 9,998 of your friends
."
Two of Carl Sandburg's most famous poems are "Fog" and "Chicago." He worked as a reporter, and while he was in Grant Park on his way to interview a judge, he saw fog rolling into the harbor. The judge kept him waiting, and as he waited, he wrote "Fog." His poem "Chicago" won a $200 prize as the Best American Poem of the Year. Mr. Sandburg said that the cash prize would "just octuple our bank account."
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Bonus Links
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Reader Comment
Current Events
TCM will honor Doris Day on June 9th with 24 hours of her movies. At the link below is also a video clip and biography, as well as the list of movies that will be shown (also links to other archive material, milestones, videos, and photos).
[6:00 AM] Romance on the High Seas (1948)
[8:00 AM] My Dream is Yours (1949)
[10:00 AM] Tea for Two (1950)
[11:45 AM] On Moonlight Bay (1951)
[1:30 PM] Johnny Carson interviews Doris Day (1976)
[1:45 PM] Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
[4:00 PM] Calamity Jane (1953)
[6:00 PM] Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960)
[8:00 PM] Pillow Talk (1959)
[10:00 PM] Lover Come Back (1961)
[12:00 AM] Move Over, Darling (1963)
[2:00 AM] The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
[4:00 AM] Julie (1956)
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JD is on vacation.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Gray and overcast, but no rain - yet.
"Meules" (Haystacks)
Claude Monet
A Claude Monet painting from his celebrated "Meules" (Haystacks) series fetched $110.7 million in New York on Tuesday in an auction record for the French Impressionist master.
The sale at Sotheby's -- the first time the work had come to auction since 1986 -- fetched one of the 10 highest prices ever seen at auction.
The total, which includes fees and the commission, was more than 44 times the previous record for the work.
It was the first time an Impressionist painting fetched more than $100 million.
Another painting from the series was sold in November 2016 by the Christie's auction house in New York for $81.4 million.
Claude Monet
Record For Living Artist
Jeff Koons
A sculpture by American artist Jeff Koons sold on Wednesday for $91.1 million at an auction organized by Christie's in New York -- a record price for a living artist.
"Rabbit", a stainless steel casting of an inflatable rabbit, was the star of the auction house's spring sale and overtook the previous record set by British painter David Hockney's "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)", which sold last November at Christie's for $90.3 million.
It was a return to the top for Koons, 64, whose "Balloon Dog (Orange)" for five years held the record for highest price reached at auction for a living artist after its 2013 sale for $58.4 million.
The selling price of "Rabbit" was only $80 million, but once commissions and fees were added, the final total rose to $91.075 million.
In an unusual turn for an art auction at this price range, the buyer of "Rabbit" was actually in the room during the sale.
Jeff Koons
Wins Key Court Ruling
Woodstock 50
The Woodstock 50 festival, scheduled for August 16-18 in Watkins Glen, New York, won a key court decision against financier Dentsu. Citing termination terms outlined in the contract between Woodstock Ventures and Amplifi, a subsidiary of Japanese ad and marketing agency Dentsu, a Supreme Court of the State of New York judge ordered that Dentsu had no right to cancel Woodstock 50.
"Woodstock 50 is on!" read a statement issued by principal Gregory Peck.
But it wasn't all good news for Woodstock. Judge Barry Ostrager declined to order Dentsu to return the $17.8 million Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang had alleged Amplifi "siphoned" from the festival bank account, leaving Woodstock 50 with still more financial ground to make up if the event is to continue.
What are the chances that Woodstock will actually take place? The judge's order hints that he doesn't hold a lot of optimism it could proceed, though he says that's irrelevant to his ruling.
Woodstock 50
Estate Fight Continues
Tom Petty
Tom Petty's daughters filed suit against his widow on Wednesday, as a struggle continues for control of the late singer-songwriter's catalog.
Adria Petty and Annakim Violette allege that their father's wife, Dana York Petty, has deprived them of their rightful role in determining how Petty's works are released. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks at least $5 million in damages.
Petty died in October 2017 of an accidental drug overdose, leaving his widow as the trustee of his trust. The terms of the trust entitle the daughters to "equal participation" in decisions about how Petty's catalog is exploited. The daughters have interpreted that to mean that they get two votes out of three, giving them majority control.
Dana Petty filed a petition in probate court in April, seeking to put Petty's catalog in the hands of a professional manager. She argued that Adria Petty had been erratic and abusive, and had made it difficult to conduct business in an orderly way. Adria Petty filed a separate probate petition in an effort to claim control of the estate.
The new lawsuit, filed by attorney Alex Weingarten, accuses Dana Petty of usurping the estate's assets at the daughters' expense.
Tom Petty
Egyptian-American Comedian
Ahmed Ahmed
A comedy clubgoer in Naples, Fla., called police to report that Egyptian-American standup Ahmed Ahmed told a joke about organizing a terrorist organization.
One day after seeing the comedian, the unidentified man called the non-emergency police line to report the "terrible" joke the comic said at the start of the show.
According to the call released by the Collier County Sheriff's Office, the caller noted that Ahmed Ahmed is "you know, Middle Eastern" and said he asked the audience if anyone was from that region of the world.
The man went on to note that there were about "25 Muslims" at the show, and wanted police to go to the comedy club to investigate.
Needless to say, Ahmed Ahmed - who shared footage of his friendly interaction with officers who responded - was stunned.
Ahmed Ahmed
Apologizes
Harvard Lampoon
The Harvard Lampoon has apologized for sexualizing Holocaust victim Anne Frank in a cartoon that showed her head on the body of a woman in a bikini.
The Lampoon, the school's satirical magazine that was founded in 1876 and whose former staff members include Conan O'Brien and Lawrence O'Donnell, published the doctored image in a recent issue, sparking complaints.
"Gone Before Her Time: Virtual Aging Technology Shows Us What Anne Frank Would Have Looked Like if She Hadn't Died," the headline above the picture said.
"Add this to your list of reasons the Holocaust sucked," the magazine quipped.
Harvard Lampoon
Wilderness Area Opened To Copper Mining
Minnesota
The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday renewed two long-mothballed leases near the Boundary Waters Wilderness area in Minnesota, a key step in opening up the popular wilderness and recreation area to copper mining despite heavy opposition from local and national conservation groups.
The department's Bureau of Land Management granted the hardrock mineral leases inside the Superior National Forest to Twin Metals Minnesota LLC, a subsidiary of Chile's Antofagasta, with the aim of expanding domestic mining of "critical minerals" used in common appliances and products, saying it is beneficial to national security because it reduces foreign imports.
The Obama administration in 2016 had implemented a moratorium on new mineral development in the area while it would conduct an extensive environmental impact statement (EIS) analysis to determine whether 234,000 acres of the watershed around Boundary Waters should be withdrawn from mining for up to 20 years.
But after President Don-Old Trump (R-Cheap Veneers) took office in 2017, he reversed course, cancelling the EIS in favor of a less-demanding and faster environmental assessment last January.
The site attracts more visitors than any other U.S. wilderness area.
Minnesota
What Exactly Is It?
"Dark Impactor"
There's a "dark impactor" blasting holes in our galaxy. We can't see it. It might not be made of normal matter. Our telescopes haven't directly detected it. But it sure seems like it's out there.
"It's a dense bullet of something," said Ana Bonaca, a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who discovered evidence for the impactor.
Bonaca's evidence for the dark impactor, which she presented April 15 at the conference of the American Physical Society in Denver, is a series of holes in our galaxy's longest stellar stream, GD-1. Stellar streams are lines of stars moving together across galaxies, often originating in smaller blobs of stars that collided with the galaxy in question. The stars in GD-1, remnants of a "globular cluster" that plunged into the Milky Way a long time ago, are stretched out in a long line across our sky.
Under normal conditions, the stream should be more or less a single line, stretched out by our galaxy's gravity, she said in her presentation. Astronomers would expect a single gap in the stream, at the point where the original globular cluster was before its stars drifted away in two directions. But Bonaca showed that GD-1 has a second gap. And that gap has a ragged edge - a region Bonaca called GD-1's "spur" - as if something huge plunged through the stream not long ago, dragging stars in its wake with its enormous gravity. GD-1, it seems, was hit with that unseen bullet.
"We can't map [the impactor] to any luminous object that we have observed," Bonaca told Live Science. "It's much more massive than a star
Something like a million times the mass of the sun. So there are just no stars of that mass. We can rule that out. And if it were a black hole, it would be a supermassive black hole of the kind we find at the center of our own galaxy."
"Dark Impactor"
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