Recommended Reading
from Bruce
David Bruce: Wise Up! Children (athensnews.com)
Even as a child, Spanish artist Salvador Dal was sensitive to color. Once, his father sent him to buy two tortillas, but young Salvador returned with two rolls instead. His father asked why he had not gotten the tortillas, and Salvador replied, "I got rid of them - I didn't like the yellow."
Mark Morford: You want the good news, or the bad news? (sfgate.com)
Which will it be? How do you want to spin it? Can you even tell the difference? Let us ponder...
Elayne Boosler: You Didn't Hear the One About... (huffingtonpost.com)
We've seen the uproars around the world concerning cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammad. Anyone who does not think comic strips are relevant never had a fatwa put on him/her for drawing a picture.
Where's the moral outrage on Wall Street? (The Washington Post)
Elizabeth Warren, please call Michael Lewitt. Who? I'd have said the same thing a few weeks ago, until I stumbled on an interview with Lewitt in Barron's, which led me to his new but as yet mostly invisible book, "The Death of Capital: How Creative Policy Can Restore Stability."
Froma Harrop: Terrorism of a Personal Kind (creators.com)
The schoolyard bully used to work his fists. His target might go home with a black eye, but the bruise would eventually go away. Later in life, victim and victimizer might become friends.
Diane Ravitch: The Obession with Testing is Nuts (huffingtonpost.com)
I predict, based on current policies in the US, that kids will be drilled endlessly for the next test. That the machinery will be in place to measure and test, driving out innovation, creativity, and divergent thinking.
Astroturfing (wikipedia.org)
Astroturfing denotes political, advertising, or public relations campaigns that are formally planned by an organization, but are disguised as spontaneous, popular "grassroots" behavior. The term refers to AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass.
Firefighters Watch As Home Burns: Gene Cranick's House Destroyed In Tennessee Over $75 Fee (huffingtonpost.com)
Firefighters are usually the bold "veni, vidi, vici" sort, but those from neighboring South Fulton could only say "veni, vidi." They came. They watched. That's it.
BOB HERBERT: That's Where the Money Is (nytimes.com)
John Boehner is the quintessential example of shameless government figures guiding the fortunes of the rich and powerful.
Jim Hightower: SAVE THE BILLIONAIRE'S TAX LOOPHOLE!
Look out, they're angry. Foaming-at-the-mouth angry. And they're lashing out, saying they won't take it anymore. As one of their leaders angrily cried, "It's a war." Indeed - they're on the move to take their country back.
William Saletan: The Ass Man Cometh (slate.com)
Experimentation, orgasms, and the rise of anal sex.
Susan King: Martin Scorsese on Elia Kazan (latimes.com)
In 'A Letter to Elia,' airing on PBS' 'American Masters,' Scorsese looks at two of Kazan's films - 'On the Waterfront' and 'East of Eden' - and the power of art to change people.
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'DanD cynically inspired Media Integrity' Edition...
Are there any Media-Types (TV, Radio, Print) that you believe have 'Integrity' enough that you respect them and their works? (Even in the morning, haha)... Name names, if'n ya please...
1.) Heck, yeah!...
2.) No way! They're all corporate dupes...
Send your response to
wrote:
responded:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
BadtotheboneBob
gourmet tacos
Chef sells gourmet tacos from his restaurant on wheels in metro Detroit
A few months ago, Wesley Holton was executive chef of the Michelin-starred Daniel Boulud Brasserie in Las Vegas, overseeing a talented staff and a high-end French menu. Last week, he was making Little Piggy tacos for customers lined up at a food truck in a Farmington Hills office park. Career crash? Hardly... "The food is wonderful," engineer Bob Leffler of Ferndale said Wednesday, taking another bite of his D-Town braised beef short rib taco...(Holton) projects he'll make more per year than in his previous job and hopes to buy more trucks if things go well...
Chef sells gourmet tacos from his restaurant on wheels in metro Detroit | freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Yowza! Makes me wanna trek the 100 miles south just to chow down! I'm droolin' as I write this, and that's a fact! Braised beef short rib taco? Hoo ha! I'm wantin' one of those Bad Boys!
BadtotheboneBob
Thanks, B2tbBob!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Lovely, rainy day.
Restoration Complete
Moon Landing Footage
An Australian awards ceremony made history when it publicly screened digitally restored extracts of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon for the first time.
Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, who walked on the moon, attended the Australian Geographic Society Awards in Sydney as guest of honour, and watched highlights of the re-mastered footage shown.
In 2009, NASA released some extracts of the work to mark the 40th anniversary of the landing, but it has taken the Apollo 11 tape search team six years to complete full digital restoration of the two and a half hour long video.
Australian scientists and NASA searched for the original data tapes that recorded the video signal beamed from the moon, believing it all to have been erased during other mission recordings in the following years.
Moon Landing Footage
In Southern Sudan
George Clooney
American actor George Clooney is visiting the little known region of Southern Sudan. The U.N. Security Council arrived to a raucous welcome on Wednesday, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum also made a recent trip here.
The high-level visits are putting the spotlight on the Texas-sized area of Sudan that is far less known to Americans than the western region of Darfur, where mass atrocities have been committed over the last decade.
Southern Sudan is three months from a Jan. 9 independence vote that could see Africa's largest country break in two. The vote - and the potential of a new north-south war because of it - are the reason behind the rash of visits.
Clooney spent the past week traveling to remote, conflict-prone areas of Sudan's south with John Prendergast, the founder of the Enough Project, an anti-genocide advocacy group.
George Clooney
Online Auction
Memorabilia
Unreleased Lady Gaga songs, handwritten Paul McCartney lyrics and clothing from Princess Diana and Elvis Presley are among unique celebrity items that will be sold in an online auction this month.
McCartney's handwritten working lyrics to "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" from the 1969 Abbey Road album are expected to be the top seller with a price tag of at least $200,000.
But bids could start as low as $100 for items like a signed handwritten letter from Phil Spector, the music producer convicted of murder.
About 850 items such as CDs from Lady Gaga's first manager, Michael Jackson's crystal studded helmet worn during his 1981 "Triumph tour and James Brown's original 1987 signed U.S. passport are for sale at www.gottahaverockandroll.com from October 6-15.
Memorabilia
Poem By Ted Hughes Details Suicide
Sylvia Plath
A previously unseen poem by Ted Hughes that details the painful moments surrounding the suicide of his wife Sylvia Plath is being published by The New Statesman on Thursday, the magazine said.
Hughes, an English poet laureate, and Plath, his American wife, are considered among the 20th century's greatest poets. Their doomed marriage inspired some of their best work and has been the focus of endless fascination.
The poem, called "Last Letter," chronicles the three days leading up to Plath's death in her London home on February 11, 1963, beginning: "What happened that night? Your final night."
Its discovery has already created a minor sensation in Britain. The country's Channel 4 News broadcast excerpts of the work Wednesday evening, read in a dry, quivering voice by actor Jonathan Pryce.
Sylvia Plath
Price Tag: $1
Newsweek
The Washington Post Co. has revealed exactly how much cash that audio equipment magnate Sidney Harman paid for Newsweek magazine this summer: $1.
The Post Co. also agreed to cover up to $10 million of Newsweek's existing bills. And it will hold on to certain employee pension liabilities, though it did not spell out a dollar figure in a regulatory filing Wednesday.
No one thought Harman paid much for Newsweek, which lost almost $30 million last year amid circulation and advertising declines.
But the magazine's sale for less than its $5.95-per-issue price on newsstands is still a grim milestone for a brand that was once a prized asset at the Post Co., which bought Newsweek in 1961.
The filing comes as speculation builds that Harman's Newsweek will form some kind of partnership with The Daily Beast, a news and opinion site owned by Barry Diller's media conglomerate, IAC/InterActiveCorp, and run by former New Yorker magazine editor Tina Brown.
Newsweek
Family Files Lawsuit
'Transformers 3'
The family of a woman left with brain damage after an accident during the filming of "Transformers 3" has filed a lawsuit against the movie's makers.
Gabriela Cedillo is being treated at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. She was working as an extra when she was hit in the head by a piece of flying metal during the filming of a stunt sequence in Hammond, Ind.
The lawsuit contends the Sept. 1 accident left her permanently brain damaged, paralyzed on her left side and with her left eye stitched shut.
The lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Tuesday accuses Paramount Pictures of negligence.
'Transformers 3'
Battle Over Estate
Pendergrass
The son and second wife of Teddy Pendergrass are locked in a battle over the late R&B singer's estate.
Teddy Pendergrass II and Joan Pendergrass have produced conflicting wills since the singer died of colon cancer in January.
The son claims a will from May 2009 names him executor and sole beneficiary. The widow claims a later document on which she signed her name as the singer's attorney gives her control.
Teddy Pendergrass II tells The Philadelphia Inquirer that his father left him in charge of the family. Joan Pendergrass' attorney denies a money grab, saying the estate has few assets.
Teddy Pendergrass
Wins Trademark Case
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift has won a court fight against 16 individuals she claimed violated trademark by selling counterfeit merchandise bearing her name and picture.
Court documents said a federal judge in Nashville granted a default judgment last week permanently barring 16 individuals from making or selling Taylor Swift merchandise.
Swift claimed in the suit that her merchandise enforcement team found numerous individuals selling fake goods across the country during her 2009 tour, including T-shirts with her image on them.
A message left for Swift's attorney on Wednesday was not immediately returned. Court records indicated that the accused individuals had no attorneys listed and they had not responded to the lawsuit.
Taylor Swift
Cancels Concerts
Detroit Symphony
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has canceled concerts amid an ongoing musicians' strike.
Chief Executive and President Anne Parsons made the announcement Wednesday at Orchestra Hall in Detroit.
The DSO was to perform Thursday at Michigan State University's Wharton Center, then open the season Friday in Detroit.
Orchestra officials plan to announce the status of next week's performances Tuesday.
Detroit Symphony
Cancels Invitation To Israelis
Bayreuth Festival
Germany's Bayreuth Festival has withdrawn an invitation for an Israeli orchestra to play at its annual Wagner gathering over fears it would create a backlash in the Jewish state, an Israeli newspaper said on Wednesday.
The decision to rescind the offer was made after news of the invitation leaked prematurely, prompting executives to rethink the offer at an emergency meeting of festival executives in Bayreuth on Tuesday night, the Haaretz newspaper said.
The ensemble said on Tuesday it had accepted an invitation to play at the festival next summer in a rare breach of an Israeli taboo against performing works by the rabidly anti-Semitic composer.
Since the Nazi Holocaust, musicians in what is now Israel have largely honoured an unwritten ban on performing pieces by Wagner, Adolf Hitler's favourite composer.
Bayreuth Festival
Billboard Record
'Glee'
The "Glee" cast has surpassed the Beatles for the most appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by a non-solo act.
The cast of the Fox television musical series about a high school glee club has six debuts on the chart this week. That gives it a total of 75 songs on the chart to the Beatles' 71.
Elvis Presley still leads overall with 108 songs to chart on the Hot 100. He's followed by James Brown with 91, then "Glee."
The Beatles are sixth, behind Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. Lil Wayne, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z round out the Top 10.
'Glee'
New Suspects In Disease
Bees
Researchers have a pair of new suspects in the mysterious collapse of honey bee colonies across the country.
The widespread damage to the bees has caused concern because the insects are needed to pollinate scores of crops.
Researchers say samples collected from hives affected by the syndrome indicated the presence of a virus as well as a fungus. The two pathogens were not found in bee colonies not affected by the syndrome, called colony collapse disorder, the researchers reported in Wednesday's edition of the journal PLoS ONE.
The new study said the suspect virus is insect iridescent virus, which is similar to a virus first reported in India 20 years ago, as well as a virus found in moths.
The analysis of the bees was done at the Army's Edgewood Chemical Biological Center at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.
Bees
New Exhibition
'The Spanish Manner'
A man bends over to peer into a peep show box, revealing a tear in the seat of his pants that offers a bawdy view of his backside to a woman standing behind him.
This witty, satirical drawing by Francisco Goya is part of a new exhibition at The Frick Collection that highlights dozens of superb Spanish drawings from the early 17th to the early 19th century.
The curators of "The Spanish Manner: Drawings From Ribera to Goya" contend that drawings by the Spanish old masters - original, visionary and fantastic - have been overshadowed by the work of Italian and Dutch artists.
Now with this show of more than 50 drawings, they are hoping to focus attention on Spain's inventive and unique graphic tradition during this period, which they have dubbed the "Spanish manner."
'The Spanish Manner'
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Sept. 27 to Oct. 3. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. NFL Football: Green Bay vs. Chicago (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), ESPN, 12.48 million homes, 17.45 million viewers.
2. "Jersey Shore 2" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 4.93 million homes, 6.72 million viewers.
3. "SportsCenter" (Monday, 11:46 p.m.), ESPN, 3.60 million homes, 4.41 million viewers.
4. "Jersey Shore After Hours" (Thursday, 11 p.m.), MTV, 3.57 million homes, 4.68 million viewers.
5. "Wizards of Waverly Place" (Friday, 8 p.m.) Disney, 3.21 million homes, 4.87 million viewers.
6. "Teen Mom 2" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 2.98 million homes, 4.00 million viewers.
7. "Hannah Montana Forever" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 2.95 million homes, 4.15 million viewers.
8. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.91 million homes, 3.99 million viewers.
9. "Penguins of Madagascar" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Disney, 2.84 million homes, 3.85 million viewers.
10. "Phineas and Ferb" (Friday, 9:30 p.m.), Disney, 2.82 million homes, 4.35 million viewers.
11. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.80 million homes, 3.73 million viewers.
12. "Monday Night Countdown" (Monday, 7 p.m.), ESPN, 2.79 million homes, 3.47 million viewers.
13. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), USA, 2.78 million homes, 3.68 million viewers.
14. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.77 million homes, 3.88 million viewers.
15. College Football: Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma State (Thursday, 7:30 p.m.), ESPN, 2.73 million homes, 3.66 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Marshall Flaum
Marshall Flaum, a visionary documentarian and five-time Emmy-winning producer-director-writer, died October 1 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications following hip surgery. He was 85.
During a 55-year career, Flaum's work included collaborations with Jacques Cousteau, Jane Goodall, David Wolper, Jack Haley Jr. and Hanna-Barbera, with subjects ranging from Lyndon Johnson and Frank Lloyd Wright to James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
In the first of his two Oscar-nominated docs, "The Yanks Are Coming" (1963), Flaum created what he called "the entertainment documentary." He became one of the first in his field to integrate popular music of the time with stock footage of World War I.
"Let My People Go: The Story of Israel" (1965), for which he received his second Academy Award nomination and a Peabody Award, examined the plight of the Jews.
After serving in the Army in World War II and studying acting at the University of Iowa, Flaum headed to Broadway and appeared with Basil Rathbone in "Julius Caesar" and with Olivia de Havilland in "Romeo and Juliet" in the early 1950s while studying acting with Lee Strasberg.
In 1957, he began a six-year stint at CBS as a writer, story editor and associate producer on the Walter Cronkite documentary series "The Twentieth Century," then moved to Hollywood to join a group of young filmmakers working for Wolper.
Flaum collaborated with Haley to produce one of the first Hollywood compilation films, "Hollywood: The Great Stars" (1963). His other Hollywood docs included "Hollywood: The Selznick Years" (1969), "Tribute to Bogart" (1972) and "Bing Crosby: His Life and Legend" (1978).
Flaum worked with Cousteau for six seasons and 25 films as executive producer and writer of the renowned 1970s "Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau" specials, winning documentary Emmys for "A Sound of Dolphins" and "The Unsinkable Sea Otter."
He also served as executive producer and writer of "Jane Goodall and the World of Animal Behavior: The Wild Dogs of Africa," for which he landed another Emmy.
In addition to his five Emmys (and 16 noms), Flaum's awards include two Peabodys, the Golden Nymph from the Monte-Carlo International TV Festival, a Golden Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival and a Silver Lion from the Venice International Film Festival.
Flaum also produced "A Yabba-Dabba-Doo Celebration: 50 Years of Hanna-Barbera," "Voyage to the Edge of the World" and "The Natural History of Our World: The Time of Man."
A collector of movie posters of the 1930s and '40s, Flaum served on the documentary nominating committee for the Academy Awards and was a member of the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America.
The Brooklyn native is survived by his wife of 62 years, Gita; his children, film editors Erica and Seth; his grandchildren, Maxwell and Elizabeth; and his sister, June Flaum Singer.
Marshall Flaum
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