• Many performing artists desire quiet and privacy before facing an audience. Impresario Sol Hurok once was backstage before a performance by Sadler’s Wells Ballet. He knocked on ballerina Margot Fonteyn’s door. No answer. He went away, returned a short while later, and knocked again. No answer. He then opened the door and asked if she had heard his knock. Ms. Fonteyn told him, “GET OUT!” After the performance, the two met, and Mr. Hurok asked if she were angry at him. Ms. Fonteyn smiled, then asked, “Why on earth should I be angry at you?” After Mr. Hurok reminded her that she had told him to get out of her dressing room, she replied, “Don’t you know that, before a performance, I won’t talk to anyone?” After giving him a kiss, she added, “Remember, I don’t want to see anyone before I go on.”
• Soprano Joan Hammond once appeared on the BBC series Gala Performance on the same program as ballet dancers Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. Unfortunately, as she was singing, she caught sight of the dancers warming up their muscles at the barre. Normally, this would be OK, but they were warming up using a rhythm that was different from that of the aria that Ms. Hammond was singing, so she had to stop, explain what had happened, apologize, then begin singing again. The aria went well this time, but after the program, the conductor, Malcolm Arnold, told her, “You were lucky, Joan. After Margot and Nureyev moved away from you, they came into my vision, and I had to force myself to keep to Puccini and not follow their timing for the entire aria. I didn’t want to stop and cause you to start yet again.”
• As a young dance student, Peter Martins thought he was both a strong and a good dance partner, but he learned the truth in a performance of August Bournonville’s Far From Denmark. At one point, the 20 males onstage were required to lift their partners and hold them in the air during the applause that followed. Of all the 20 males, young Peter was the first to lower his partner. She was furious at his weakness and hissed at him, “You need to do push-ups.” He cried after the performance, and the next day he bought a piece of exercise equipment known as a chest expander and started to use it and to do push-ups.
• Peter Martins took over as a co-director of the New York City Ballet after George Balanchine’s death. For a while, Mr. Martins continued his dancing career, but he soon discovered that it was too difficult to do both jobs. During a performance with Suzanne Farrell, with whom he had had little rehearsal, he had numerous entrances and exits. While he was standing in the wings, he watched an improvising Ms. Farrell and told the ballet mistress, “Doesn’t Suzanne look great out there!” The ballet mistress replied, “Yes, but you’re supposed to be there with her.” Mr. Martins quickly made a belated appearance on stage.
• Disasters and near-disasters are always a possibility at a public dance performance. Ballerina Darci Kistler once was dancing when her costume started to unravel at a side seam. She remembers thinking that even if her costume came off, she had to continue to dance. (Fortunately, this turned out to be a near-disaster rather than a disaster.) On another occasion, the glue on her false eyelashes glued her eyes shut so that she was unable to see on stage. And once when she was a young ballerina, her perspiration caused her mascara to run down her face; after that experience, she used waterproof mascara.
• Before a matinee performance, a young Margot Fonteyn noticed that some other people were taking a drink, so she had a few drinks, too. Big mistake. The other people weren’t dancing at the matinee, but she was. Feeling tipsy and inclined to giggle, she went on stage and discovered that her body could not do what she wanted it to do. The performance was a nightmare, and the applause following it was scanty. For the next 30 years of her career, she refused to take even an aspirin before a performance, and she never again drank before a performance.
A player hums, rather than blows, into this American musical instrument that modifies its player's voice by way of a vibrating membrane. Central to the Temple City Orchestra, what is the name of this instrument?
The term "Banana Republic" was coined in the 19th century by what American writer?
O. Henry (William Sydney Porter, 1862–1910)
Source
In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the exportation of a limited-resource product, such as bananas or minerals. In 1901, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighbouring countries under economic exploitation by U.S. corporations, such as the United Fruit Company. Typically, a banana republic has a society of extremely stratified social classes, usually a large impoverished working class and a ruling class plutocracy, composed of the business, political, and military elites of that society. The ruling class controls the primary sector of the economy by way of the exploitation of labor; thus, the term banana republic is a pejorative descriptor for a servile Oligarchy that abets and supports, for kickbacks, the exploitation of large-scale plantation agriculture, especially banana cultivation.
In the 19th century, the American writer O. Henry (William Sydney Porter, 1862–1910) coined the term banana republic to describe the fictional Republic of Anchuria in the book Cabbages and Kings (1904), a collection of thematically related short stories inspired by his experiences in Honduras, where he lived for six months until January 1897, hiding in a hotel in when he was wanted in the U.S. for embezzlement from a bank.
Source
Mark. was first, and correct, with:
O. Henry.
Billy in Cypress U.S.A. said:
O. Henry (William Sydney Porter, 1862-1910)
Randall wrote:
O. Henry
Alan J answered:
O.Henry.
Mac Mac responded:
O. Henry
Jacqueline replied:
O. Henry
zorch said:
O. Henry coined it in 1904.
Dave wrote:
O. Henry. I learned that from reading about him because of a December trivia question.
Deborah, the Master Gardener responded:
I was thinking it was Ernest Hemingway, but it’s actually O. Henry (one of my favorite short-story authors) who coined the term “banana republic.”
To think how close we came to becoming a banana republic…
Jim from CA, retired to ID, replied:
O. Henry
Rosemary in Columbus said:
O. Henry
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame wrote:
The answer is O. Henry.
Daniel in The City answered:
O. Henry
DJ Useo responded:
I dunno that answer, so, I guess 'Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., a.k.a. Jonathan Swift'.
Sorry to be absent this last week, but my net connection problems seem better today.
Cal in Vermont replied:
O. Henry
Joe S (We resisted, we voted, we won. Get over it) wrote:
O! O! O! It's O. Henry. I love O. Henry.
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Roy the (now retired) hoghead (aka 'hoghed') ( Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. ~Frank Zappa ) took the day off.
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BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
The big piney tree out front has died and is being removed in the morning. Yikes.
Tonight, Tuesday:
CBS begins the night with a FRESH'NCIS', followed by a FRESH'FBI', then a FRESH'FBI: Most Wanted'.
Scheduled on a FRESHStephen Colbert are Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci, and Adrianne Lenker.
Scheduled on a FRESHJames Corden, OBE, are Jared Leto and Jacob Collier.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist', followed by a FRESH'This Is Us', then a FRESH'Nurses'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Susan Sarandon, JJ Watt, and Thad Cockrell.
Scheduled on a FRESHSeth Meyers are Ted Danson, Brooks Wheelan, and Ann Patchett.
Scheduled on a FRESHLilly Singh is Marsai Martin.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'To Tell The Truth', followed by a FRESH'black-ish', then a FRESH'mixed-ish', followed by a FRESH'Big Sky'.
Jimmy Kimmel are Anthony Anderson, Sal Iacono, and Death Cab for Cutie.
The CW offers a RERUN'Two Sentence Horror Story', followed by aother RERUN'Two Sentence Horror Story', then a FRESH'Trickster'.
Faux has a FRESH'The Resident', followed by a FRESH'Prodigal Son'.
AMC offers the movie 'Twister', followed by the movie 'Star Trek'.
BBC -
[6:00AM - 11:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
[12:00PM - 7:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
[8:00PM] HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS
[10:00PM] ERASER
[12:30AM] HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS
[2:30AM] ERASER
[5:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of Dallas', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Dallas', then another FRESH'Real Housewives Of Dallas', followed by a FRESH'Watch What Happens: Live'.
FX has the movie 'Pitch Perfect 3', followed by the movie 'Jurassic World', then the movie 'Jurassic World', again.
History has a FRESH'The Curse Of Oak Island: Digging Deeper', followed by a FRESH'Beyond Oak Island', then a FRESH'The Curse Of Oak Island', followed by a FRESH'The Proof Is Out There', and another 'The Proof Is Out There'.
IFC -
[6:00am] Parks And Recreation
[6:30am] Parks And Recreation
[7:00am] Parks And Recreation
[7:30am] A Very Brady Sequel
[9:30am] The Brady Bunch Movie
[11:30am] Back To School
[1:30pm] Cheech & Chong Still Smokin'
[3:30pm] Up In Smoke
[5:30pm] Crocodile Dundee II
[8:00pm] The Dukes Of Hazzard
[10:15pm] Starsky & Hutch
[1:30am] Up In Smoke
[3:30am] Cheech & Chong Still Smokin'
[5:30am] The Three Stooges - Pop Goes The Easel (ALL TIMES ET)
Sundance -
[6:00am - 11:00am] gomer pyle, u.s.m.c.
[11:30am] saturday night fever
[2:00pm] jerry maguire
[5:00pm] columbo
[7:15pm] columbo
[9:00pm] columbo
[10:45pm] columbo
[1:30am] columbo
[3:15am] columbo
[5:00am] the andy griffith show
[5:30am] the andy griffith show (ALL TIMES ET)
SyFy has the movie 'Gone In 60 Seconds', followed by the movie 'Hancock', then the movie 'Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2'.
In 1963, Sidney Poitier made a film in Arizona, “Lilies of the Field.” The performance led to a huge milestone: He became the first Black winner of a lead-acting Oscar.
Now, Arizona is the site of another career milestone for the legendary actor and filmmaker — Arizona State University has named its new film school after him. The Sidney Poitier New American Film School was unveiled at a virtual ceremony on Monday.
The decision to name the school after Poitier, 93, is about much more than his achievements and legacy, but because he “embodies in his very person that which we strive to be — the matching of excellence and drive and passion with social purpose and social outcomes, all things that his career has really stood for,” said Michael M. Crow, president of the university.
The university, which is expanding its existing film program into its own school, says it has invested millions of dollars in technology to create what’s intended to be one of the largest, most accessible and most diverse film schools. Crow said that much like the broader university, the film school will measure success not by exclusivity but by inclusivity.
The school will move in the fall of 2022 to a new facility in downtown Mesa, Arizona, 7 miles from the university’s Tempe Campus. It will also occupy the university’s new center in Los Angeles.
Illustrator Michaela Goade became the first Native American to win the prestigious Randolph Caldecott Medal for best children’s picture story, cited for “We Are Water Protectors,” a celebration of nature and condemnation of the “black snake” Dakota Access Pipeline.
Tae Keller’s chapter book “When You Trap a Tiger,” in which a young Korean-American explores her identity and her heritage through her grandmother’s stories, won the John Newbery Medal for the outstanding children’s work overall of 2020. Keller, who was raised in Hawaii and now lives in New York, drew upon Korean folklore and family history for “When You Trap a Tiger,” also named the year’s best Asian/Pacific American literature.
Jacqueline Woodson, whose previous honors include a National Book Award, won her third Coretta Scott King Award for best work by a Black author for “Before the Ever After.” And a tribute to Aretha Franklin, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T,” received the King award for best illustration. The book was written by Carole Boston Weatherford, with images by Frank Morrison.
Daniel Nayeri’s “Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story)” won the Michael L. Printz Award for best young adult novel, and Mildred D. Taylor, known for “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” among other works, was given a “Literature Legacy” award.
Kekla Magoon, who has written or co-written “X: A Novel” and “How It Went Down,” won a lifetime achievement award for young adult books.
In an age where it seems impossible to safely hold a crowded concert, the Flaming Lips found a way to do so in their home state of Oklahoma. The band put on two shows where attendees — and musicians — stood inside "space bubbles" to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne came up with the idea. Even before the pandemic, Coyne would use an inflatable bubble to stage dive into the crowd.
But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he thought of another use for the space bubbles, drawing a cartoon of himself — and his fans — protected by bubbles at a concert.
During an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in May, The Flaming Lips decided to actually test out Coyne's idea. The band performed a few songs with about 30 people in individual bubbles during their performance.
After the success of that performance, the band ordered space bubbles from China for an October show at the Criterion theater in Oklahoma City. The first floor of the venue was filled with around 300 fans in enclosed in plastic bubble barriers.
Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise has set sail in the park’s Adventureland area consistently since 1955 and it stands today as one of the remaining opening day attractions overseen by Walt Disney himself.
But culture often moves faster than decades-old mechanical hippos.
On Monday, the Walt Disney Co. announced that it's embarking on what many view as a long-overdue course correction for the Jungle Cruise. Numerous changes will make the attraction feel more inclusive and less racially insensitive in its depiction of other cultures.
The move follows updates to other older attractions such as Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean, all done to remove now-outdated tableaus that can be cringe-inducing at best and racist at worst. The company had already announced that Splash Mountain, originally inspired by the critters in the racist film “Song of the South,” would receive a makeover themed to “The Princess and the Frog,” the movie that featured Disney's first Black princess.
"Horrifyingly racist" is how one of Disney's peers in the theme park design community, the Thinkwell Group, characterized various Jungle Cruise scenes in an essay published shortly after Disney announced the changes to Splash Mountain.
Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up)’s former lawyer Michael Cohen said that the ex-president might have issued secret pardons to himself and his children during his tenure, which he will reveal if he is indicted.
Talking to MSNBC, Mr Cohen said he believes Mr Trump has already pardoned himself, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and his children in what he termed as “pocket pardons” to save themselves from criminal conviction if needed.
The former president had issued a slew of pardons in his final days of office. He granted clemency to 70 people and commuted the sentences of a further 73 people, excluding himself and his family by using his presidential powers.
Mr Cohen wondered why the former president did not pardon himself, saying that the one thing Mr Trump fears the most is serving a jail term.
"I kind of think I figured it out," he said to MSNBC host Alex Witt. "I think Donald Trump actually has given himself the pardon. I think he also has pocket pardons for his children and for Rudy and it's already stashed somewhere that, if and when they do get indicted and that there's a criminal conviction, federal criminal conviction brought against him, that he already has the pardons in hand."
The pandemic has worsened income inequality, with the world's richest people regaining their losses in nine months while the number of people living in poverty has doubled to more than 500 million, according to a new report from the anti-poverty group Oxfam.
The world's poorest could take a decade to regain their financial footing from the devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the study, which says the novel coronavirus has accelerated an ongoing trend toward widening income inequality. Oxfam's report will be released to coincide with the World Economic Forum's Davos Agenda, set to take place online this year rather than its traditional gathering of global movers and shakers in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos.
America's richest people have seen their wealth soar during the pandemic by more than $1 trillion, thanks to a booming stock market and a K-shaped recovery that has benefited the rich, while poorer people have struggled with lost wages and jobs and future opportunities. It's a rich vs. poor phenomenon that is replicating across the globe. Oxfam describes the pandemic's impact as "the greatest rise in inequality since records began."
Economists in 79 countries who were surveyed by Oxfam said they projected their countries would experience an "increase" to a "major increase" in income inequality due to the pandemic. The economists who were surveyed included Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, Jayati Ghosh of the at University of Massachusetts Amherst and Gabriel Zucman of the University of California at Berkeley.
The pandemic has especially exposed inequalities faced by women and people of color, who have suffered higher rates of unemployment during the pandemic. They are also more likely to work in industries with higher exposure to COVID-19 risks, such as service-based jobs in health care and restaurants. Women comprise 7 out of 10 workers in the global health and social care workforce, Oxfam noted.
Archaeologists in Egypt are preparing to open a 3,000-year-old burial shaft at the Saqqara necropolis, south of Cairo, in the coming week.
The unexplored tomb is one of 52 burial shafts clustered near the much older pyramid of the Pharaoh Teti. Workers at the site found the entrance to the latest shaft earlier this week as they were preparing to announce a slew of other finds at the site, including the tombs of military leaders and high-ranking courtiers, a copy of the Book of the Dead, and ancient board games. Also among the discoveries is the name of the owner of an elaborate mortuary temple near Teti’s pyramid: Narat or Naert, the pharaoh’s queen.
“I’d never heard of this queen before. Therefore we add an important piece of Egyptian history about this queen,” archaeologist and former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass told CBS News. Archaeologists first unearthed the stone temple in 2010, but it wasn’t clear who the grand structure had been built for. At mortuary temples like this one, priests and supplicants could make offerings to the dead queen to keep her comfortable in the afterlife—and ask her to help them out in this world.
The queen’s temple stands near her husband’s pyramid at Saqqara. Together, they founded the last dynasty of Egypt’s Old Kingdom; 150 years and 6 kings later, the country slid into the political chaos of the First Intermediate Period.
Practically in the shadow of Teti's pyramid, the 52 recently excavated burial shafts at the site date to Egypt’s New Kingdom, a set of dynasties that ruled from around 1570 to 1069 BCE. The earliest tombs at Saqqara are older than Egypt itself, dating back to the predynastic period, when the land along the Nile was divided among several smaller kingdoms. For the next three thousand years, some of Egypt's great and powerful kept returning to Saqqara to build their tombs. The 7 kilometer stretch of desert holds elaborate temple complexes for pharaohs, alongside the tombs of generals, princes, and aristocrats.
No one has yet managed to travel through time – at least to our knowledge – but the question of whether or not such a feat would be theoretically possible continues to fascinate scientists.
As movies such as The Terminator, Donnie Darko, Back to the Future and many others show, moving around in time creates a lot of problems for the fundamental rules of the Universe: if you go back in time and stop your parents from meeting, for instance, how can you possibly exist in order to go back in time in the first place?
It's a monumental head-scratcher known as the 'grandfather paradox', but in September last year a physics student Germain Tobar, from the University of Queensland in Australia, said he has worked out how to "square the numbers" to make time travel viable without the paradoxes.
To use a topical example, imagine a time traveller journeying into the past to stop a disease from spreading – if the mission was successful, the time traveller would have no disease to go back in time to defeat.
Tobar's work suggests that the disease would still escape some other way, through a different route or by a different method, removing the paradox. Whatever the time traveller did, the disease wouldn't be stopped.
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U.S.A. said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
