from Bruce
Anecdotes
Practical Jokes
• As a young man, William Schwenck Gilbert, who was later to be the librettist of The Pirates of Penzance, liked to give the impression that he was important in the theatrical world. A friend asked him if he could write an order for free seats at a local play, and Mr. Gilbert very happily did so. However, when the friend presented the order at the box office, he was laughed at, and later he demanded an explanation. Mr. Gilbert explained, “You asked me whether I could write you an order for the play. I replied that I could, and I did, but I never said it would be of the least use to you.”
• Tibor Zana was dancing in the operetta Count of Luxembourg when he and the other male dancers decided to play a joke on the women dancers. In the operetta, the men and women danced a waltz, with a line of men and a line of women coming toward each other, then dancing. Before the waltz, each of the men took a big bite of an onion, then at a predetermined time breathed toward their dance partners, causing quite a few heads to turn away from the smell. The stage manager fined the male dancers for the prank, but they decided the prank was worth the fine.
• In the early days of Methodism, members of a congregation sometimes had fun with preachers. Jesse Lee once preached on a verse from Acts 17:6: “These that turned the world upside down have come here also.” He then said that sin had turned the world upside down, and the ministry was determined to set the world right side up. The next day he discovered that in the village he had preached at, everything that could be turned upside down had been turned upside down: wagons, boats, signs, gates, etc.
• Sir Thomas Beecham was a practical joker. While conducting Façade in 1932, he decided to play a trick with the tempo of a polka danced by ballerina Alicia Markova. At first the tempo was normal, but as the dance progressed, he speeded up the tempo faster and faster, grinning at Ms. Markova as she speeded up her dancing. Afterwards, he admitted that he had wanted to see how fast she could dance, and he complimented her on being able to keep up with his tempo.
• In an episode of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Maynard G. Krebs, played by Bob Denver, jumps into a swimming pool. The scene was scheduled to be shot in the morning, but it kept being delayed until afternoon. When he finally jumped into the swimming pool, Mr. Denver found out why. The crew had filled the pool with ice cubes and had to wait until they melted so Mr. Denver would not know how cold the water was until he jumped in.
Prejudice
• The great black dancer Bill Robinson, aka Mr. Bojangles, fought prejudice. He and his wife were on a train going from Chicago to St. Louis when they went to the dining car to eat. To avoid trouble, they usually waited until all the white people had eaten, but this time they knew that the dining car was going to be dropped off early. There was one white man still in the dining car, so they asked if he would mind if they ate in the dining car. He didn’t, so they began to seat themselves at a table. The steward said, “This table is reserved,” and refused to let them be seated. Mr. Bojangles was furious and pulled out a gun. The train conductor telegraphed down the line that a madman with a gun was in the dining car. Fortunately, Mr. Bojangles was friends with the police in that town and so was not arrested — also, he had gotten rid of the gun before the police showed up. In St. Louis, he made a complaint against the steward to the railroad manager, who said he would fire the steward. However, Mr. Bojangles didn’t want the man to lose his job, so he said, “I’m playing at the Orpheum Theater. If he wants to come down and apologize to me, I won’t force this charge against him.” The steward did apologize and saved his job.
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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
Track: “Notre Prof’ de Anglaise” [“Our English Teacher”] (1966)
EP: ENAMORADAS DEL PROFESOR [IN LOVE WITH THE PROFESSOR]
Artist: Chantal Kelly
Artist Location: In 1966, France
Record Company: Nodos Ele
Record Company Location: Sweden
Info:
Chantal Kelly is a 1960s French pop singer and author of the 2011 travel book GELATO SISTERHOOD ON THE AMALFI SHORE.
“Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, Chantal Kelly developed an early love of travel as she journeyed each summer with her family throughout Western and Eastern Europe. Her wanderlust led to a Bachelor’s degree in tourism and a career in the industry. Her passion for travel also fueled a desire to share her most favorites destinations, through well-researched and richly described memoirs. Fluent in several languages, Chantal has escorted many tours to the Amalfi Coast. She resides with her husband near Portland, Oregon.” — Author Bio
Price: FREE Download
Genre: French Pop
Links:
ENAMORADAS DEL PROFESOR [IN LOVE WITH THE PROFESSOR]
Nodos Ele
Nodos Ele Blog (Spanish Language)
Other Links:
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Stephen Suggests
Miniature Golf
This is my idea of a great miniature golf course
New Venture
Michael Egan
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
Ukraine
Other Links:
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Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
At last--a reason to pay Fairfax County's high property taxes and be content. (The Loudon County line is less than a mile from my house. Loudon County has much lower property taxes. But Loudon County is full of those yahoos who stormed Board of Education meetings to protest CRT that was not being taught in their schools. Loudon is also a hotbed of those idiots who bought Youngkin's election promises/lies hook, line & sinker.)
From Alternet:
Descano, the head prosecutor for Fairfax County, Virginia, puts Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin on notice in his op-ed — emphatically vowing to defy any anti-abortion laws that may be passed in Virginia in the future.
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Fairly quiet afternoon at the laundromat-of-the-darned.
50 Years Later
Kim Phuc
After spending 14 months in the hospital recuperating from burns covering 65 percent of her body, Kim Phuc finally saw the photo of herself that haunted the world. "I came home and my dad showed me my picture, cut from a Vietnamese newspaper, for the first time," the 59-year-old told Insider from her home outside Toronto. "I was so embarrassed. I saw my face in agony, crying, naked. I hated that picture."
On June 8, 1972, Phuc was a 9-year-old growing up in the shadow of the Vietnam War when a sudden and deadly napalm bomb dropped from overhead on the tiny village of Trang Bang. The aerial attack by South Vietnamese Air Force Skyraiders singed her small body, sending her screaming down Highway 1 after ripping off her clothes, while flanked by her brothers and cousins. The pain of her stark naked silhouette pleading in agony is palpable.
If not for a plucky 21-year-old photographer, the gut-wrenching moment could have been lost to history, and Phuc could have lost her life.
The singular image, officially titled "The Terror of War," but colloquially known as "Napalm Girl," transformed both their lives and forged what would become a lifelong bond between photographer and subject. But every step in the path to publishing the iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning image was heart-stopping.
Nick Ut, also Vietnamese, was an AP photographer working the bloody war for years — with multiple near-death experiences.
Kim Phuc
Prime Time Ratings
NBA Playoffs: Boston at Miami
For millions of fans of Netflix’s sci-fi drama “Stranger Things,” there’s little mystery in how they spent their Memorial Day weekend.
Netflix released seven new episodes of the show’s much awaited fourth season and said that a record-setting 286 million hours were streamed over the weekend. That’s the biggest premiere ever for an English-language show on the service, beating the 193 hours for the second season of “Bridgerton,” earlier this year.
ESPN led the cable networks, averaging 3.4 million viewers last week. Fox News Channel had 2.17 million, TNT had 2.14 million, MSNBC had 992,000 and HGTV had 911,000.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race with an average of 7.4 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 6.3 million and the “CBS Evening News” clocked in at 4.6 million.
For the week of May 23-29, the 20 most-watched shows, their networks and viewerships:
1. NBA Playoffs: Boston at Miami (Sunday), ESPN, 9.88 million.
2. “NCIS,” CBS, 7.47 million.
3. NBA Playoffs: Miami at Boston (Friday), ESPN, 7.19 million.
4. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 7.03 million.
5. NBA Playoffs: Dallas at Golden State (Thursday), Turner, 6.79 million.
6. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 6.43 million.
7. NBA Playoffs: Boston at Miami (Wednesday), ESPN, 6.42 million.
8. NBA Playoffs: Miami at Boston (Monday), ABC, 6.41 million.
9. “This is Us,” NBC, 6.38 million.
10. NBA Playoffs: Golden State at Dallas (Tuesday), Turner, 6.194 million.
11. “FBI,” CBS, 6.191 million.
12. “Chicago PD,” NBC, 5.98 million.
13. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 5.91 million.
14. “Bob Hearts Abishola,” CBS, 5.7 million.
15. “NCIS: Hawai’i,” CBS, 5.47 million.
16. “FBI: International,” CBS, 5.32 million.
17. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 5.31 million.
18. Special Report: Biden in Texas, CBS, 5.26 million.
19. “Survivor,” CBS, 5.11 million.
20. “FBI: Most Wanted,” CBS, 4.77 million.
NBA Playoffs: Boston at Miami
Venice Film Festival
Catherine Deneuve
The great French film star Catherine Deneuve will receive the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in September, organizers said Wednesday.
With her angular features, blonde hair and regal demeanor, Deneuve was a key figure in the French New Wave. She broke out after starring as the lovesick Geneviève in Jacques Demy’s candy-colored musical “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” which came out in 1964. It would lead to more lauded collaborations with Demy (“The Young Girls of Rochefort,” “Donkey Skin”) as well as directors like Luis Buñuel, François Truffaut (“The Last Metro”) and Roman Polanski (“Repulsion”).
Now 78, Deneuve has worked consistently for nearly 60 years, transcending her ingenue beginnings to become one of the most recognizable and respected stars in the world. In addition to her 14 César Awards nominations and two wins, she was also nominated for best actress at the Oscars for “Indochine” from 1992.
Also receiving the festival’s lifetime achievement award this year is “Taxi Driver” writer and “American Gigolo” director Paul Schrader.
Catherine Deneuve
Queen’s Jubilee
Sex Pistols
In Britain, there are several traditional elements to a royal anniversary: pageants, street parties, the Sex Pistols.
Queen Elizabeth II and the Pistols have been linked since the punk pioneers released the song “God Save the Queen” during the 1977 Silver Jubilee that marked the monarch’s 25 years on the throne.
The anti-authoritarian anthem — not to be confused with the actual British national anthem of the same name — has been re-released for Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, or 70 years as queen. It’s one of a raft of cultural tie-ins — critics might say cash-ins — spurred by the royal milestone.
Members of the band that rhymed “God save the queen” with “fascist regime” and “she ain’t no human being” have mellowed over the years.
The band’s record company hopes it hits No. 1 this time, though it failed to dent the charts when rereleased for the queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002 and Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
Sex Pistols
1st Female Armed Services Chief
Adm. Linda Fagan
President Joe Biden hailed Adm. Linda Fagan as new Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and the armed forces’ first female service chief, declaring during a change of command ceremony on Wednesday, “It’s about time.”
“The trailblazing career of Admiral Fagan shows young people entering the services, we mean what we say: There are no doors — no doors — closed to women,” Biden told around 2,000 cheering guests at Coast Guard headquarters. Those attending included service chiefs from other military branches and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The president added, “This is what an admiral and service chief in the United States armed forces looks like” and thanked Fagan for “all that you’ve done throughout your career to open the doors of opportunity just a little bit wider” allowing “those following behind you a way through.”
“Now we need to keep working to make sure Admiral Fagan may be the first but not the only,” Biden said. “We need to see more women at the highest levels of command in the Coast Guard and across every service.”
Adm. Linda Fagan
Shuts Down Newsmax Interviewer
Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shut down a Newsmax interviewer who prompted him to say that there would be no war in Ukraine if former President Donald Trump were still US president.
Zelenskyy was interviewed by Newsmax anchor Rob Schmitt in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, on Tuesday about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Schmitt asked Zelenskyy: "Do you think that different American leadership, do you think that different Western leadership, may have prevented this aggression?
Zelenskyy responded by saying that he was grateful for the help given by current US President Joe Biden, and that the most important thing for Ukraine is support from the American public, regardless of which party is in power.
"I am sorry if I'll be saying something that you don't like but for us as the country in war, it doesn't matter whether its Democrats or Republicans. It's the people of the United States that support us," he said.
Zelenskyy
Granted Full Freedom
Hinckley
A federal judge on Wednesday granted John Hinckley, the man who shot and wounded President Ronald Reagan and three others in a 1981 assassination attempt, unconditional release from the remaining restrictions he faced, U.S. media reported.
During a hearing in Washington, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman lifted travel and internet usage restrictions against Hinckley, who has been living on his own in Williamsburg, Virginia, Fox News reported. Friedman's order will take effect on June 15, it reported.
During a hearing in September, Friedman said he would grant Hinckley unconditional release, but gave prosecutors more time to monitor Hinckley as he transitioned to living on his own following the death of his mother.
In 2016, Hinckley was released from a psychiatric hospital where he was treated for depression and psychosis and allowed to move into a gated community in Williamsburg to care for his elderly mother, who died in August 2021.
Hinckley
Actually Caterpillar Hairs
‘Eczema’
A man’s suspected case of painful eczema on his left wrist turned out to be something much more unusual. Doctors in China discovered that their patient actually had caterpillar hairs lodged in his arm, likely caught while climbing an apple tree months earlier. Following a steroid injection, the man’s lesions cleared up.
The tale of the embedded caterpillar hairs was detailed last month in BMJ Case Reports. The man, said to be in his 50s, visited doctors after months of ongoing redness, bumps, and pain on his left wrist. He was initially diagnosed with eczema, a skin condition that can arise for many reasons, including allergies. Treatment with topical steroids and antihistamines didn’t help, though, so he was sent to the dermatology department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, where the authors of the new case report examined him.
When they looked at the man’s biopsied skin under a microscope, they noticed unique hollow structures with “refractory golden walls.” These objects were also surrounded by white blood cells, indicating that they were the cause of inflammation. After reviewing the man’s medical history and the literature, the doctors suspected that the structures were likely a caterpillar’s setae, or the hair-like bristles found along the outside of many species. The patient then confirmed their suspicions when he recalled that he might have bitten by an unknown insect as he was climbing up a wax apple tree five months ago. He also remembered that, while up there, he saw plenty of spongy moth caterpillars, previously known as gypsy moths (they had their common name changed recently to avoid the use of the derogatory term “gypsy.”)
Caterpillar-related injuries aren’t a common ailment that dermatologists encounter and document in their daily routines. So the authors of this study hope their report, complete with photos and images of the injury under a microscope, can help other doctors identify similar cases in the future. And all things considered, the man’s situation could have been way worse—in at least one case, a caterpillar’s hairs were sharp enough to puncture someone’s cornea.
‘Eczema’
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