Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: I wanna be your exorcist (SF Gate)
Attention, college grads! Economy driving you to despair? Prospects feeling hopeless? Job market endlessly bleak? Ready to move back in with your exhausted parents and play WoW 18 hours a day and lose yourself in Facebook and not have sex for five years?
Froma Harrop: Putting England Back Together Again (Creators Syndicate)
There were two Englands, even among the whites. Then, when mass immigration flooded low-income areas with nonwhite and Muslim populations - often from conflicting cultures - life on that side of the wall became far more complex. The riots in London and elsewhere were attended by both minorities and white, the poor and not-so-poor - many of whom don't like living with each other. The government reacted with shock, but it shouldn't have.
Annie Lowrey: The Construction Workers Have Left the Building (Slate)
Why a sharp drop in the unemployment rate for builders isn't good news.
Jim Hightower: Dim Bulbs in Congress
Any doubt about this was erased in July when tea party ravers in the House joined old-school right-wing ranters to pass a light bulb bill. This was the culmination of a loopy crusade by the billionaire Koch brothers to stop the spread of energy-efficient light bulbs. Say what? Yes, Koch front groups drummed up a non-issue by howling that Big Government is "telling us what kind of light bulbs we can buy."
Jim Hightower: "Gov. Supercuts" for president?
Perry is known in Texas as "Governor Supercuts," not only for his spiffy hairdo, but also for cutting the budgets of schools and poverty programs and holding down wages. In his 10-year tenure, Perry has created more minimum wage jobs than all other states combined, and his superrich state now has more families in poverty than any other.
When did magic become elitist? (io9.com)
It used to be that anybody could learn magic, in pop culture as well as folklore. But in recent decades, magical powers have become an inherited trait, which only a few people are born with. What changed? David Liss, author of 'The Twelfth Enchantment,' explores the trend towards elitism in our fantasy stories.
Jon Bream: Wanda Jackson, the 'Queen of Rockabilly' (Star Tribune, Minneapolis)
Elvis Presley was first. He gave Wanda Jackson his ring. Since then, she's had lots of big-name admirers.
Henry Rollins: "Toad Toxins or Transcendent Music: Whatever Gets You Through The Night" (LA Weekly)
Two major ingredients have determined my actions and led to my achievements in life: improvisation and opportunity. When it comes to work, my instinct is to say yes to an offer and worry about my health and sanity later. I also have learned from years of touring and making a life in the world of music that sometimes you just have to go with the moment, even if that moment takes a few years to extract yourself from.
Krissi Murison: Punk spoke up for angry kids. Why won't today's bands follow suit? (Guardian)
On the cover was a 1976 image of the Clash, to mark the 35th anniversary of punk's explosion in London. Inside was a reprint of Barry Miles's first interview with the band: "They talk of the boredom of living in the council high-rise blocks, of living at home with parents, of dole queues, of the mind-destroying jobs offered to unemployed school-leavers. They talk […] of how there is nothing to do."
The Key of Awesome!: Harry Potter and the Steamy Slow Jam! Key Of Awesome #44 (YouTube)
Now that the battle is over, the Hogwarts gang is getting down and makin' sweet love!
25 Greatest Unscripted Scenes in Films (YouTube)
25 Great Scenes in Film that actually were not scripted, but rather, improvised. Please keep the captions on, as I will explain the improvisation.
Internet Access CAPTCHAs (defectiveyeti.com)
… frankly, I'd also like to see certain people on the Internet prevented from doing certain things. You know, like: logging onto the Internet. And so, a modest proposal: Internet Access Captchas, built right into browsers, designed to greatly reduce the overabundance of youtube commenters, Facebookers, and Twittererers.
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, with a healthy helping of humidity.
Surprising Finding
Survey
In an op-ed article in the New York Times, Robert D. Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard, and David E. Campbell, a political scientist at Notre Dame, say they have collected data indicating that the tea party is "less popular than much maligned groups like 'atheists' and 'Muslims.'"
The professors were following up on research they conducted in 2006 and 2007 for their book "American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us" and decided to add the tea party and atheists to their list of survey queries. By going back to many of the same respondents, the professors gleaned several interesting facts about the tea party.
One of their more surprising findings, Campbell concedes, (and one drawing national attention) is that the tea party drew a lower approval rating than Muslims and atheists. That put the tea party below 23 other entries--including Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Republicans and Democrats--that the professors included on their survey of "a representative sample of 3,000 Americans."
By examining which respondents became supporters of the tea party, Campbell and Putnam's survey "casts doubt on the tea party's 'origin story,' " they write in the Times.
Early tea partiers were described as "nonpartisan political neophytes," Campbell and Putnam write, but their findings showed that tea partiers were "highly partisan Republicans" who were more likely than others to have contacted government officials.
Survey
One Night Only
"8''
Anthony Edwards, Morgan Freeman, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Lahti, Rob Reiner, Yeardley Smith and Marisa Tomei will appear in a one-night-only reading on Broadway of a play about Proposition 8.
On Wednesday, producers announced some of the cast members who will perform in Dustin Lance Black's play "8'' as part of a fundraiser at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on Sept. 19.
Proposition 8 is the measure approved by California voters in 2008 that bans gay marriage in the state. A federal judge struck down the law last year. That ruling is being appealed.
The play, which is based on the trial transcript and interviews, will be directed by Tony Award-winning actor and director Joe Mantello.
"8''
Guitar Collection To Auction
Richard Gere
Richard Gere may be best known for his acting career but he is also an accomplished musician who has amassed an extensive guitar collection that will be sold at auction in October, Christie's said on Wednesday.
The star of "Pretty Woman," "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Chicago," has spent the last 20 years accumulating the collection.
It includes brands such as C.F. Martin, Gibson and Fender and instruments once owned by blues guitarist Albert King, Jamaican reggae musician Peter Tosh and acclaimed American guitar maker James D'Aquisto.
The auction in New York on October 11 will contain 110 lots worth approximately $1 million. A 1958 solid-body Gibson Flying V electric guitar once owned by King is expected to sell for up to $90,000.
Another top item is a 1931 C.F. Martin D-28, one of the most coveted Martin designs, which has an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000.
Richard Gere
Highest Paid Author
James Patterson
American author and entertainment mogul James Patterson has topped a Forbes magazine list of the world's highest paid authors, earning more than twice that of No. 2 Danielle Steel.
Patterson, 64, the dominant mass market fiction author who has published more than 80 books at a prolific rate with the help of collaborators, earned $84 million for the past year, according to the survey based on sales from May 2010 to April 2011. Figures were supplied by Nielsen SoundScan and Forbes considered input from numerous agents, managers and editors.
Steel, also 64, earned $35 million, according to the Forbes survey at www.forbes.com. The magazine said the top earning authors were successfully tapping into e-books, which is the fastest growing section of book publishing, while hardcover sales are in long-term decline.
Landing at No. 3 was horror and suspense writer Stephen King, earning $28 million, while coming in fourth was romance adventure author Janet Evanovich with $22 million and fifth was "Twilight" novelist Stephenie Meyer with $21 million in sales.
James Patterson
Ties Jackson Record On Billboard
Katy Perry
When Katy Perry first came on the scene, some dismissed her as a one-hit wonder. Three years later, she's proven she's a multi-hit wonder, becoming the first woman to score five No. 1 songs from one album on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Her "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" set the precedent: It's the latest No. 1 from her platinum album "Teenage Dream." Only Michael Jackson had five No. 1s from one album before Perry, from "Bad."
But Jackson spent a total of seven weeks at the top with his "Bad" songs; Perry has been at the top perch now for a cumulative 18 weeks.
Katy Perry
New Letters Bring Scandal Closer
Rupert
Rupert Murdoch is back on the hot seat of Britain's phone hacking scandal after new documents appeared to contradict the testimony of his son and his former right-hand man.
As Murdoch executives who lost their jobs in the wake of the News of the World's closure begin pointing fingers, those who have watched the Murdoch business say that his son James and confidant Les Hinton have questions to answer.
"This is pretty devastating," Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff said of the newly released documents, claiming that they showed that the "people who Rupert speaks to every day ... are people who were deeply engaged in the cover up of what was going on at the News of the World."
Among those implicated in the latest release is former News International Ltd. Executive Chairman Les Hinton, a man so close to Murdoch that the 80-year-old tycoon told lawmakers last month that he would trust him "with my life." News International is a subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corp.
Correspondence published Tuesday by U.K. lawmakers investigating the scandal show that Hinton, who published the News of the World, was warned more than four years ago that phone hacking was endemic at the now-defunct tabloid. He was also told that senior journalists there approved of the practice, and that the paper's then-editor, Andy Coulson, knew about it.
Rupert
Aisle Seat
Gerard Depardieu
French actor Gerard Depardieu outraged fellow passengers by urinating in the aisle of an Air France flight as it prepared to take off on Tuesday, forcing the plane to turn back to its parking spot.
A passenger on the flight said Depardieu, 62, the star of movies such as "Jean de Florette" and "Green Card," appeared to be drunk and insisted he be allowed to use the bathroom during takeoff, when passengers must remain seated.
When he was asked by a hostess to return to his seat, Depardieu urinated in the aisle, the passenger told French radio station Europe 1 on Wednesday.
The evening flight AF5010 operated by CityJet, a subsidiary of Air France, was forced to return to the terminal where a team boarded the plane to clean the carpet.
A spokesperson for CityJet said a passenger was escorted from the plane and the flight resumed after a delay of an hour and 15 minutes. He declined to confirm the passenger's identity.
Gerard Depardieu
Widow Settles Wrongful Death Suit
David Carradine
Court records show David Carradine's widow has reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against a French company handling the actor's final film.
An attorney for Anne Carradine filed a notice Monday in Los Angeles indicating the parties had reached a conditional settlement. Exact terms were not disclosed.
The 72-year-old "Kung Fu" star was found dead in a Bangkok hotel room in 2009 while working on a film called "Stretch."
Anne Carradine sued MK2 S.A. in June 2010, claiming the company promised to provide David Carradine with an assistant to help him navigate Bangkok but the assistant left him behind for dinner on the night before the actor was found dead.
David Carradine
Lives Up To Name
Andy Dick
Andy Dick, no stranger to stirring controversy and alienating large groups of people, called shock jock Howard Stern a "shallow, money-grubbing Jew," Tuesday.
The comedian fired against Stern on the "Greg Fitzsimmons Show," calling the radio host a "big fat hook nose," and "miserly."
Dick claims he still hasn't been paid for "The S*** Show," a program he has hosted for several years on Stern's Sirius Radio channel, Howard 101, starting in 2006.
"So good, Andy's true colors come out. I'm not surprised by it, I'm used to it. It's just typical," Stern said.
Andy Dick
CA Supreme Court Won't Hear Appeal
Phil Specter
The California Supreme Court on Thursday refused to consider legendary rock music producer Phil Spector's appeal of his murder conviction.
Spector's attorneys have argued that during the trial, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler prejudiced the case by allowing prosecutors to use pictures of him in closing arguments as if he was a witness.
They also have said Fidler improperly allowed jurors to watch a videotape of him explaining testimony by a witness about forensic evidence at a hearing outside the jury's presence. By allowing jurors to watch the tape and see the photos, Fidler turned himself into a witness and violated his neutrality, attorneys said.
An appeals court refused to consider the issue in May. That court has said there was enough evidence to convict Spector of the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his Alhambra mansion in 2003.
Phil Specter
Punchline Stomps Off
"Piers Morgan"
Former Delaware U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell (R-Loopy) stormed off the set of "Piers Morgan Tonight" Wednesday, apparently objecting to the CNN host's questions about gay marriage.
"I'm not being weird, you're being a little rude," said to the host, right before storming off the program's set.
"Ms. O'Donnell wasn't happy about me quizzing her re views on witchcraft and sex. But really flipped at gay marriage Qs. Ripped mike and fled," Morgan tweeted shortly after the taping.
"My first ever walk-out in 25 years of interviews," Morgan continued. "I guess viewers can decide if I was 'rude' or not tonight at 9pm ET. #CNN"
"Piers Morgan"
Hits Back At SEC
Toby G. Scammell
A California man accused last week of insider trading on Disney's $4 billion purchase of Marvel is hitting back at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In a letter sent to a number of media outlets Tuesday night, Toby G. Scammell writes that the SEC ignored or misrepresented his trading history to bolster its charges that the financial analyst exploited his girlfriend's job at Disney to make a financial windfall from the deal.
"The SEC's complaint against me is so riddled with omissions, distortions and inaccuracies that it's hard to know where to begin," Scammell writes. "To grab headlines, the SEC has concocted an imaginative story that's not supported by the facts."
The defendant has launched a website, SECFail.com, on which he said he will post documents and other evidence that support his assertion that the regulatory agency's case is trumped up.
Toby G. Scammell
Sheriff Won't Seek Charges Against
The Game
The Game will not face criminal charges after a tweet from the rapper's account incited a telephone flash mob that jammed the emergency phone system at one of the busiest stations of the Los Angeles County sheriff's department, the agency said Wednesday.
Capt. Mike Parker said the department decided to drop the matter after conducting an investigation and consulting with the district attorney's office. He also welcomed an apology the rapper made to the department.
The tweet posted on The Game's Twitter account on Friday encouraged his 580,000 followers to call a number if they wanted an internship.
That number turned out to be the Compton station's official help line.
The Game
Oh, That Explains It
Gov. Goodhair
GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry told New Hampshire voters Wednesday that he does not believe in manmade global warming, calling it a scientific theory that has not been proven.
"I think we're seeing almost weekly, or even daily, scientists that are coming forward and questioning the original idea that manmade global warming is what is causing the climate to change," the Texas governor said on the first stop of a two-day trip to the first-in-the-nation primary state.
He said some want billions or trillions of taxpayer dollars spent to address the issue, but he added: "I don't think from my perspective that I want to be engaged in spending that much money on still a scientific theory that has not been proven and from my perspective is more and more being put into question."
His comments came at a packed breakfast meeting with local business leaders in a region known for its strong environmental policies. And he made his global warming comment in response to a question by an audience member who cited evidence from the National Academy of Sciences.
But Perry's opinion runs counter to the view held by an overwhelming majority of scientists that pollution released from the burning of fossil fuels is heating up the planet. Perry's home state of Texas releases more heat-trapping pollution carbon dioxide - the chief greenhouse gas - than any other state in the country, according to government data.
Gov. Goodhair
Looking For Free Publicity
Abercrombie & Fitch
Teen clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co has offered money to get away from what it sees as an undesirable Situation.
The preppy retailer has offered to pay cast members from MTV's popular show "Jersey Shore" to stop wearing its clothes, it said in a news release late Tuesday.
The company is "deeply concerned" that Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino "could cause significant damage" to the brand's "aspirational nature."
The offer could be considered an abrupt about-face for a company that previously sold T-shirts emblazoned with the wording "The Fitchuation."
Abercrombie & Fitch
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Aug. 8-14. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. "Jersey Shore" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 5.4 million homes, 7.37 million viewers.
2. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 4.92 million homes, 6.5 million viewers.
3. "Rizzoli & Isles" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 4.84 million homes, 6.45 million viewers.
4. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10 p.m.), History, 4.41 million homes, 6.26 million viewers.
5. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10:30 p.m.), History, 4.32 million homes, 6.08 million viewers.
6. "Royal Pains" (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.95 million homes, 5.16 million viewers.
7. "American Pickers" (Monday, 9 p.m.), History, 3.84 million homes, 5.35 million viewers.
8. "Republican Presidential Debate" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 3.83 million homes, 5.05 million viewers.
9. "Burn Notice" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.6 million homes, 4.74 million viewers.
10. "ICarly" (Saturday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.58 million homes, 5.51 million viewers.
11. "Covert Affairs" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.53 million homes, 4.7 million viewers.
12. "Storage Wars" (Wednesday, 10:30 p.m.), A&E, 3.41 million homes, 4.8 million viewers.
13. "True Blood" (Sunday, 9:03 p.m.), HBO, 3.4 million homes, 5.3 million viewers.
14. NFL Exhibition Football: Baltimore vs. Philadelphia (Thursday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 3.34 million homes, 4.39 million viewers.
15. "Necessary Roughness" (Wednesday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.27 million homes, 4.13 million viewers.
Ratings
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