from Bruce
Anecdotes
Crime
• New York Yankee pitcher Lefty Gomez once played with a first baseman who seemed about to be thrown in jail for income tax evasion. When Lefty was asked how he felt playing with someone who might be in jail by the time the next game started, he replied, “Well, it’ll be an awfully long throw for the shortstop.”
Education
• Larry Romanoff worked as an academic counselor for Ohio State University football coach Woody Hayes, who “fired” (and quickly rehired) him several times. One day, Larry was very happy because he was academic counselor to the football players and he had some really good news for Woody—every football player except one had gotten above a 2.0 gpa that grading period. He expected Woody to be really happy, but instead Woody looked over the grade report, saw that one player had not gotten above a 2.0 gpa, threw the grade report on the floor and stomped on it, then kicked in the side of a file cabinet. Finally, he fired Larry. Later that day, Woody held a meeting and told his assistant coaches, “We had a real good quarter, but don’t tell Larry about it because he’ll get a fat head.” (Of course, Larry wasn’t really fired. He kept on working for Woody.)
• While author Gary Paulsen was a kid, he knew a boy named Emil (pronounced EEE-mull) who was tight with a nickel. He used to buy a candy bar for a nickel, eat half of it, then sell the remaining half to another boy for a nickel. Sometimes he used to do this six times in one day. One of the kids who bought a half-eaten candy bar for the price of a whole candy bar was Gary himself, who used the excuse that he was so bored in one particular class that he would have paid a dollar for a half-eaten candy bar just to have something to keep his mind off his history teacher. The teacher was also the football coach, and he constantly compared history to football by saying such things as “Caesar would have made a good quarterback” or “Cleopatra would have made a good quarterback, if she had been a man.”
• Before becoming a professional baseball pitcher, Truett “Rip” Sewell played sports in college. He was invited to look over the University of Alabama campus and sports teams, and he was watching a scrimmage of the football team when a player was hurt. Alabama coach Wallace Wade yelled, “Drag him off the field and send another one in. He probably wasn’t in shape anyway.” Mr. Sewell decided not to play sports at or attend the University of Alabama.
• As a teenager, Jennifer Capriati played professional tennis, making millions through endorsing products and winning tournaments. Nevertheless, she was also a student and had to turn in homework. Often, at important tennis tournaments, she would fax her homework to her school, Palmer Academy in Wesley Chapel, Florida, then go out and compete. (As a teenager, she also studied on the road with a tutor.)
• Tenley Albright was serious about ice skating. Once, a school principal objected when she left class early to attend an ice-skating competition. Ms. Albright’s parents transferred her to another school—and to another principal. Her ice skating did not interfere with her education. After giving up ice skating competitions, Ms. Tenley went to medical school and became a surgeon.
• At Wimbledon, women tennis players customarily curtsy before the royal box. In 1972, Chris Evert played Australian Evonne Goolagong at Wimbledon. Immediately before they were to walk in front of the royal box, Chris had to ask Evonne, “How do you curtsy?” Evonne demonstrated, and Chris was able to follow the custom, thus averting a potential international crisis.
• When future NFL player Pat Tillman was attending Arizona State, his coach, Bruce Snyder, planned to redshirt him, thus keeping him eligible to play college football for an additional year. Mr. Tillman told him, “You can do whatever you want with me, but in four years I’m gone. I’ve got things to do with my life.”
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. replied:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "The Hound of the Baskervilles"
Album: THE ADVENTURES OF ZOMBIERELLA AND GUITARACULA
Artist: Messer Chups
Artist Location: St. Petersburg, Russia
Info:
“Messer Chups is a surf rock band from Saint Petersburg, Russia. The group was formed in 1998 by composer and guitarist Oleg Fomchenkov.” —
Wikipedia
Price: $1 (USD) for track; $11 (USD) for 19-track album
Genre: Surf Instrumentals. Horror Surf.
Links:
THE ADVENTURES OF ZOMBIERELLA AND GUITARACULA
Messer Chups on Bandcamp
Oleggitarkin (Messer Chups Lead Guitarist) on YouTube
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Stephen Suggests
Twofer
New Venture
Michael Egan
Reader Contribution
Freedom
RD
Thanks, R!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Pulls Out of Farm Aid
Neil Young
Neil Young took to his Archives website on Wednesday to announce his withdrawal from Farm Aid 2021, taking place next month in Hartford, Connecticut.
Young, who is a Farm Aid board member alongside Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews, explained that he’s pulling out of the sold out benefit due to the recent Covid-19 outbreaks caused by the Delta variant. “Lots is going on in our world right now,” he wrote. “I find myself wondering whether Farm Aid will be safe for everyone with the Covid pandemic surging. I worry about that. I don’t want to let anybody down, but still can’t shake the feeling that it might not be safe for everyone.”
“All you people who can’t go to a concert because you still don’t feel safe, I stand with you,” he continued. “I don’t want you to see me playing and think it’s safe now. I don’t want to play until you feel safe, and it is indeed, safe. My soul tells me it would be wrong to risk having anyone die because they wanted to hear music and be with friends…no matter where you are, I am with you. Do what you must, but think it through. We will be back. There is much work to do together.”
The September 25th event was slated to be Young’s first public performance since the 2019 Farm Aid at Wisconsin’s Alpine Valley Music Theatre. His decision makes him the latest musician to cancel their return to the stage, including Stevie Nicks, Garth Brooks, and more. Other acts and festivals have enforced new mandates of vaccination proof or a negative Covid test upon entry, from Jason Isbell to Dead and Company.
“Since we know vaccinated people can catch and spread Covid, I worry about the children who could become infected after Farm Aid, just by being with someone, maybe a parent, who caught the virus at Farm Aid and didn’t know it,” Young added. “There are already too many children in hospitals. While I respect Willie, John and Dave’s decisions to stick with it and play, I am not of the same mind. It is a tough call.”
Neil Young
‘Number One’ Gibson Guitar To Auction
Les Paul
The earliest approved model of the Gibson Les Paul — owned by Les Paul himself and known affectionately as “Number One” — is headed to auction. The lot will be part of the upcoming “Exceptional Sale,” taking place October 13th at Christie’s in New York City.
Paul and Gibson Incorporated developed “Number One” around 1951 and 1952. At the time, Gibson had lost ground and market share to Fender, which had launched the Telecaster, the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, in 1950. In response, Gibson tapped Paul — one of the most popular musicians in the country at the time — to help them develop a solid-body electric guitar of their own; the “Number One” Gibson Goldtop they crafted would serve as the basis for the Gibson Les Paul guitars that would eventually become a rock and roll staple.
“Number One” is being auctioned off by Paul’s son, Gene Paul, and longtime guitar builder, engineer and producer, Tom Doyle.
In a statement, Doyle recalled, “Les brought his idea to Gibson and they initially dismissed it outright, but Les was dogged. He held strong to his ideas and his beliefs, knowing that someday they would see the light. Les kept tinkering and inventing, and making his concept better and better. Then finally after about 10 years, and after lots of trial and error, the good folks at Gibson presented this very guitar to Les. He was smitten, and he was overjoyed… and the rest, as they say, is history.”
Les Paul
Johansson - Jost
Baby News
Hollywood power couple Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost have some marvel-ous news to share.
The "Black Widow" star and the "Saturday Night Live" comedian recently welcomed their first child together, Jost announced Wednesday on Instagram.
"Ok ok we had a baby," Jost confirmed — about a month after he and his wife were first rumored to be expecting. "His name is Cosmo. We love him very much. Privacy would be greatly appreciated."
"For all inquiries," the actor and comic jokingly requested people "contact our publicist," tagging his "Weekend Update" co-anchor Michael Che.
The newborn is Jost's first child and Johansson's second. The Oscar-nominated "Marriage Story" actor shares a 6-year-old daughter, Rose Dorothy, with ex-husband Romain Dauriac.
Baby News
Prime Time
Ratings
The pandemic accelerated changes in how people use their televisions, further reducing the dominance in traditional live viewing of what networks are showing, a new study has found.
Nearly two-thirds of people said in June that they viewed free video on demand content on their televisions once a week, up from 46% in February 2020, according to Hub Entertainment Research.
In an otherwise quiet TV week, ABC led with an average of 2.69 million viewers in prime time. NBC had 2.65 million, CBS had 2.4 million, Fox had 2.2 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 1 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” led the evening news ratings race, with an average of 7.8 million viewers last week. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 6.5 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 4.7 million.
For the week of Aug. 9-15, the 20 most-watched programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 7.14 million.
2. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 6.51 million.
3. “Field of Dreams Game: N.Y. Yankees vs. Chicago White Sox,” Fox, 5.85 million.
4. “America’s Got Talent” (Wednesday), NBC, 5.67 million.
5. “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 4.6 million.
6. “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 4.5 million.
7. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 3.96 million.
8. “Big Brother” (Thursday), CBS, 3.86 million.
9. “Big Brother” (Sunday), CBS, 3.78 million.
10. “The $100,000 Pyramid,” ABC, 3.68 million.
11. “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 3.59 million.
12. ABC News Special: War in Afghanistan, ABC, 3.47 million.
13. “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 3.45 million.
14. “NCIS,” CBS, 3.41 million.
15. “Press Your Luck,” ABC, 3.28 million.
16. “Field of Dreams Post-Game,” Fox, 3.15 million.
17. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Monday), Fox News, 3.124 million.
18. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 3.118 million.
19. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Tuesday), Fox News, 3.1 million.
20. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Thursday), Fox News, 2.91 million.
Ratings
Hospital Overwhelmed
Houston
Joel Valdez isn't in the hospital for covid-19, but he's feeling its effect.
For 10 days, Valdez has been in a hospital bed at Ben Taub Hospital in Houston awaiting surgery after he was shot six times outside a grocery store as an unlucky bystander to a domestic dispute.
"Having broken bones and bullets in me for over a week now, it's a little frustrating," Valdez told KRIV over the weekend.
He tallied his injuries, which include a neck wound and three gunshot wounds to a left shoulder that's in need of surgery: "Everybody is really surprised I'm still in this bed a week later."
At Ben Taub Hospital where Valdez is awaiting surgery, the intensive care unit was at 103% capacity as of Monday morning, with 33% of those cases related to covid-19, a spokesperson for Harris Health System told The Post. Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, the other public hospital in the Harris Health System, remains similarly stretched at 94% ICU capacity, with 54% of those cases covid-related.
Houston
Wyoming Dig Site
Beornus honeyi
Early on their quest to reach the Lonely Mountain in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" (1937), Bilbo Baggins and company cross paths with an enormous, shape-shifting warrior named Beorn.
"Sometimes he is a huge black bear," the wizard Gandalf says of the man, "sometimes he is a great strong black-haired man with huge arms and a great beard."
In either form, Beorn is a giant among his peers. And now, paleontologists have immortalized the shaggy, axe-wielding brute with the discovery of an extinct mammal that rose to prominence in the Paleocene epoch (65 million to 23 million years ago), shortly after the death of the dinosaurs. They call this furry, puffy-cheeked creature Beornus honeyi.
"I have always been a huge Tolkien fan, and there is a long-standing tradition of naming early Paleocene mammals after Tolkien characters," Madelaine Atteberry, a researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder and lead author of a new study on B. honeyi and its relatives, told Live Science in an email. "I chose Beornus honeyi because of the large size and 'inflated' appearance of its teeth compared to the other mammals from this time period."
B. honeyi is a condylarth — part of an order of prehistoric, four-legged mammals that looked a bit like dogs, but were actually the ancestors of hoofed mammals like horses and rhinos, according to the new study, published Aug. 17 in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. But Beornus was no rhino; fossils of the creature's lower jaw suggest it was no larger than a modern house cat.
Beornus honeyi
Weird New Phase Of Matter
Two-Dimensional Supersolid
Physicists have created the first ever two-dimensional supersolid — a bizarre phase of matter that behaves like both a solid and a frictionless liquid at the same time.
Supersolids are materials whose atoms are arranged into a regular, repeating, crystal structure, yet are also able to flow forever without ever losing any kinetic energy. Despite their freakish properties, which appear to violate many of the known laws of physics, physicists have long predicted them theoretically — they first appeared as a suggestion in the work of the physicist Eugene Gross as early as 1957.
Now, using lasers and super-chilled gases, physicists have finally coaxed a supersolid into a 2D structure, an advancement that could enable scientists to crack the deeper physics behind the mysterious properties of the weird matter phase.
Of particular interest to the researchers is how their 2D supersolids will behave when they're spun in a circle, alongside as the tiny little whirlpools, or vortices, that will pop up inside them.
To create their supersolid, the team suspended a cloud of dysprosium-164 atoms inside optical tweezers before cooling the atoms down to just above zero Kelvin (minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 273.15 degrees Celsius) using a technique called laser-cooling.
Two-Dimensional Supersolid
Grow Eye-Like Structures
Mini Brains
Miniature brains created from stem cells have spontaneously sprouted embryonic eye-like structures called “optic cups,” according to a new study in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
While the resulting blobs may look like confused lychees, researchers hope to use them to learn about the early stages of eye development and gain new insights into the underpinnings of retinal disorders.
Stem cell-derived brain organoids are often used to study various aspects of neural development, although the challenge of creating mini-brains with other organs attached had until now not been overcome. After treating their organoids with certain compounds related to vitamin A, however, the study authors observed that optic cups began to appear on the surface of these tiny brains after around 30 days, becoming fully developed in 50 to 60 days.
The optic cup is the structure that gives rise to the retina and the majority of the eyeball, yet much remains unknown about the processes behind this development. Scientists have previously managed to grow isolated optic cups from stem cells, although such experiments failed to reveal how these nascent eye-like organs become integrated with the brain.
The study is also remarkable for what it reveals about the nature of stem cell-derived brain organoids. Previously, these structures had been considered highly chaotic tissues lacking a back or a front – yet the emergence of two symmetrically placed optic cups suggests that these mini-brains are in fact capable of self-patterning.
Mini Brains
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