from Bruce
Anecdotes
Letters
• Jerry Spinelli, the author of Crash and Wringer, got many, many rejection letters when he was a young author, but he did not give up. Every time he finished a novel that no publisher would publish, he wrote another novel. Mr. Spinelli once noted that during his first 15 years of writing, he made only $200 from his writing. He also recommended that publishers send rejection bricks instead of rejection letters, noting, “Decades of work should not be able to fit into an envelope. You should be able to build a house with them.”
• Young-people’s author Richard Peck has received many letters from the readers of his books. Some are funny, as when someone wrote, “Our teacher told us to write to our favorite author. Could you please get me the address of Danielle Steele?” Other letters are serious; for example, someone wrote to him about Remembering the Good Times, a novel that recounted a suicide and educated the readers about the warning signs of suicides. The person wrote, “The only trouble with your book is that I didn’t find it in time.”
• Karyn McLaughlin Frist edited a book titled “Love you, Daddy Boy”: Daughters Honor the Fathers They Love. Just as the title suggests, the book is a collection of reminiscences of loving fathers by loving daughters. The title comes from the way Ms. Frist’s father signed his letters that each Monday he wrote to her when she was in college: “Love you, Daddy boy.” Her friends used to ask her, “So what did Daddy boy have to say today?”
• M.E. Kerr, author of books for young adults, received many rejection letters when she was trying to be published. In fact, she once attended a sorority costume party dressed as a rejection slip. She wore a black slip on which she had attached many of the rejection letters she had received.
Media
• In February 2009, the Tucson Weekly celebrated 25 years of existence. Since most alternative newspapers don’t last that long, it was and is something to celebrate. Douglas Biggers and a friend named Mark Goehring started the newspaper. Mr. Biggers wrote in the newspaper’s 25th-anniversary edition, “It should have died a quick and easy death, since it was started by two 24-year-olds with no money, limited experience and virtually no qualifications to assume the monikers of editor and publisher. The city had a nasty reputation for chewing up and spitting out all attempts to start publications that were alternatives to the daily papers. That the Tucson Weekly continues to thrive and can celebrate 25 years of publication is nothing short of a miracle.” One of the miracles that kept the newspaper alive was that they never received a bill for printing it for the newspaper’s entire first year of existence. They had asked for two weeks’ credit, and they marveled as the two weeks’ credit turned into 50 weeks’ credit, during all of which time they were making the newspaper grow. At the end of the year, they contacted their printer and set up a meeting to discuss their credit situation. It was about time because they now owed over $100,000 in printing costs. They soon discovered why they had received a year’s credit: An accounting clerk at the printer’s offices did not want to confront them about their bill, so the clerk had let the credit continue. Mr. Biggers remembers, “The suits from Texas came to town soon thereafter, and the story ends with a lawsuit that was settled out of court after a series of misadventures with attorneys and a judge pro tem who I am convinced (and whose name I cannot recall) was a fan of the paper and somehow enabled us to prevail against formidable odds.” In the end, the Tucson Weekly survived, which is something worth celebrating.
• Tucson Weekly columnist Tom Danehy, whose columns are known for their use of the first person, original point of view, love of (most) sports, and sense of humor, has worked for a number of editors, including a woman editor who told him, “I don’t like first-person stuff; I don’t like your point of view; I hate sports; and I don’t get your sense of humor. Frankly, I don’t understand why you write for this paper. Your next column and all of the columns after that have to have solid reporting, no first-person and no humor. Otherwise, you’re gone.” His very next column was titled, “Tom Goes to the Golf Tournament and Goofs on People.” He says, “I figured I’d go out big.” He adds about the woman editor, “Fortunately, she ran afoul of others, too, and Doug [Biggers, the founder] got rid of her.”
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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
Music: "Bad Romance"
Album: 2021 FIELD SHOW MUSIC
Artist: Addison Trail High School Music Department
Artist Location: Addison, Illinois
Info:
Four short Addison Trail High School renditions of Lady Gaga hits; the longest is 1:29.
Price: FREE DOWNLOAD
Genre: Pop. Marching Band Music.
Links:
2021 FIELD SHOW MUSIC
Addison Trail High School Music Department
Addison Trail HS Fine Arts on Bandcamp
Other Links:
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New Venture
Michael Egan
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
Recommended
Dr. John Campbell: BRTITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL gets ‘Fact Checked’ by FACEBOOK (YouTube)
[This is NOT a joke.]
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Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
VA jerk gov
Our jerk of a governor keeps on being a jerk and displays all the maturity of his idol and mentor predator AKA Trump:
Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s campaign sparked controversy for lashing out at a high school student on Twitter, revealing the 17-year-old's name and photo after they shared a news story about part of the governor's mansion where slaves once lived.
The student retweeted a Richmond public radio station's report Saturday that suggested Youngkin might be scrapping efforts pursued under two previous governors to highlight the history of enslaved people at the mansion, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
Team Youngkin removed the tweet late Sunday morning but offered no apology.
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Seem to have skipped over spring and slid into summer.
Bruce Willis Bags His Own Category
Razzie Awards
The Razzie Awards nominations recognizing the worst “crap streaming, beaming and steaming from our various screens and devices” of 2021 — as the group put it — have been announced, with LeBron James, “Diana: The Musical,” Amy Adams and Bruce Willis topping the heap.
Leading the field with nine nods is Netflix’s “Diana: The Musical.” Released in October, The Razzies called the filmed stage production “Diana: The Musical” “the NetFLIX version of Broadway’s biggest bomb of the year.” Both the Broadway show and the filmed version were panned by critics who saw them as weak depictions of the Princess of Wales’ life. The show just lasted 33 performances on Broadway before it closed.
Joining “Diana” on the list of Worst Picture nominees are the thrillers “Karen” and “The Woman in the Window,” each with five nominations, as well as LeBron James’ “Space Jam: A New Legacy” and Paramount+’s “Infinite.”
Bad acting nominations went to “an otherwise great actress” Amy Adams with nods for both “Woman in the Window” and “Dear Evan Hansen,” LeBron James, “who most likely dunked his chances for basking in the cinema limelight by starring in ‘Space Jam 2,'” and Bruce Willis for, well, being Bruce Willis, apparently. Having appeared in eight projects that The Razzie thought were all pretty bad, they gave him his own category this year — Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie.
Razzie Awards
Special Tour
Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz is going to honor his departed Monkees bandmates Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones with a special tour. He’s billing it as Micky Dolenz Celebrates the Monkees, and it kicks off in April.
“I felt it was important to gather the fans and properly celebrate the lives of Davy, Mike and Peter,” Dolenz said in a statement. “People have been contacting me, requesting that I honor them in a way where the extraordinary impact of the Monkees can be properly acknowledged. We spent such a great deal of time together; they were like my brothers, and I want to share some of the great joy we had together.”
Dolenz will be backed by a seven-piece band for the show, and will play all the Monkees hits in addition to signature songs by all three of his former bandmates, including Nesmith’s “Different Drum” and “Papa Gene’s Blues,” Tork’s “For Pete’s Sake” and “Can You Dig It?”, and Jones’ “(Look Out) Here Comes Tomorrow” and “Valleri.” He’ll also share stories from his time in the group, and show unseen images from his personal archives.
Dolenz is the voice behind many of the group’s most famous songs, including “Last Train to Clarksville,” “I’m a Believer,” and “Pleasant Valley Sunday.” He is also the only Monkee to participate in every single reunion project the band ever attempted with the exception of a brief 1986 Austrian tour that featured just Jones and Tork.
Dolenz spent last year on an extensive Monkees farewell tour with Michael Nesmith that wrapped up just 26 days before Nesmith died from heart failure. “I found out a couple days ago that he was going into hospice,” Dolenz told Rolling Stone just a few hours after the news broke. “I knew what that meant. I had my moment then and I let go. It’s just good to know that he passed peacefully.”
Micky Dolenz
Will Play Cincinnati
The Who
British rock band The Who will play their first concert in the Cincinnati area in over four decades, after 11 people died in a pre-show stampede in 1979.
The Who will take the stage at the TQL Stadium on May 15, WCPO-TV reported Monday. The band’s return was originally planned for April 2020 at the BB&T Arena in Kentucky, but had to be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Long haunted by the tragedy, The Who has for years supported a memorial scholarship effort in a Cincinnati suburb where three of the victims went to school.
Another two dozen people were injured at Riverfront Colosseum on Dec. 3, 1979, amid confusion and lack of preparation for thousands of fans lined up for hours for first-come seats.
The Who
Latest Song Rights Sale
Alice in Chains
The estates of Alice in Chains original lineup members Layne Staley and Mike Starr have sold stakes in their publishing rights and master recording income stream to Primary Wave, the company announced on Monday, the latest in the ever-hot song acquisition marketplace.
Primary Wave declined to disclose financial details of the sale or how much of a stake in the catalogs it now owns, but with the purchase, it now holds a stake in one of most prominent catalogs of Seattle’s Grunge scene from the Nineties. Among the hits in the catalogs the company purchased are “Man in the Box,” which Staley wrote, along with tracks like “Rooster” and “Would,” which neither Staley nor Starr wrote, but they still get royalties on from the master recordings.
Staley died in 2002 while Starr left the group in 1993 and died in 2011. While Alice in Chains put out several albums since their departures, Starr and Staley’s rights make up some of the most commercially successful records the band released.
Staley and Starr’s estates join an extensive list of prominent songwriters, producers, and artists who’ve sold their rights, including David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and Stevie Nicks, the latter of which also sold to Primary Wave. Artists and songwriters of all eras have been selling their rights in recent years as companies have become increasingly willing to offer deals previously unheard of to secure copyrights. The deals have been notably attractive to older artists and estates, who’ve chosen to leave musical legacies in the hands of music companies and take a sizable paycheck instead.
Alice in Chains
Very Presidential
Coffee Table Book
The former President Donald Trump and unindicted conspirator, unlike most ex-presidents, hasn't yet inked a multimillion deal for post-presidential memoirs. But he has signed his name on a coffee table book documenting his presidency that's bringing in millions, CNN reports.
The coffee table book, titled "Our Journey Together," has drawn in $20 million in gross revenue since Winning Team Publishing released it in November, CNN reported.
Trump The three-time loser annotated the photos with colorful commentary reminiscent of his Twitter missives, peppered with insults and slights at his political foes. Twitter permanently suspended Trump OfVlad's account in the wake of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol.
"Attempting to listen to crazy Nancy Pelosi in the Oval Office — such natural disagreement," Trump the failed reality TV-host wrote alongside a photo from a contentious December 2018 Oval Office meeting with former Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic congressional leaders over the federal government shutdown taking place at the time.
"She was screaming and shaking like a leaf, she's fucking crazy, hence the name 'Crazy Nancy,'" Trump the demented sack of pus passing as a human said in another handwritten caption, according to CNN.
Coffee Table Book
Nearly Naked Statue
Georgia
There’s a problem with putting someone on a pedestal: Exposed on all sides, a hero to some can be seen as a traitor to others.
Atlanta plans to install a statue of a Native American man atop a 110-foot (34-meter) column in its new Peace Park, where it will tower over statues of 17 civil rights icons, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Developer Rodney Mims Cook Jr. calls Chief Tomochichi “a co-founder of Georgia” who prevented massacres by warmly inviting British Gen. James Oglethorpe to colonize his people’s land in 1733.
But Cook didn’t ask the Muscogee about their ancestor, and now that he’s unveiled the $300,000 bronze statue, historians say it’s all wrong. “Disrespectful” and “incredibly inappropriate” are some of the reactions three tribal historians shared with The Associated Press.
They say the nearly naked figure presents an offensive and historically inaccurate conception of Native Americans as primitive savages, and glorifies a heavily mythologized figure blamed by the Muscogee for initiating a century of ethnic cleansing. They also say that Atlanta is erasing them again, acting as if they vanished without a fight after handing over their land and heritage.
Georgia
13,000 Years Ago
Firestorm
At a point some 12,800 years ago, a tenth of Earth's surface suddenly became covered in roaring fires.
The firestorm rivalled the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, and it was likely caused by fragments of a comet that would have measured around 100 kilometers (62 miles) across.
As dust clouds smothered Earth, they kicked off a mini ice age that kept the planet cool for another thousand years, just as it was emerging from 100,000 years of being covered in glaciers. Once the fires burned out, life could start again.
"The hypothesis is that a large comet fragmented and the chunks impacted the Earth, causing this disaster," said Adrian Melott from the University of Kansas, who co-authored a 2018 study detailing this catastrophic event.
"A number of different chemical signatures – carbon dioxide, nitrate, ammonia and others – all seem to indicate that an astonishing 10 percent of the Earth's land surface, or about 10 million square kilometers [3.86 million square miles], was consumed by fires."
Firestorm
Insects as First Aid
Chimps
Researchers have documented a remarkable behavior among wild chimpanzees: chimps applying insects to wounds on themselves or others, perhaps as a sort of first aid. Little is still known about the practice, but the researchers suspect it to be the latest example of altruistic behavior in nonhuman animals.
The act was reportedly first discovered in 2019 by Alessandra Mascaro, a volunteer at the Ozouga Chimpanzee Project in Gabon. Mascaro saw and was able to record a female chimpanzee dubbed Suzee examining a wound on her son Sia’s foot. Suzee then caught a flying insect, put it in her mouth, and applied the insect to Sia’s wound.
Intrigued, Mascaro and her colleagues began to watch for the behavior among chimpanzees in the group. Over the next 15 months, they documented the same practice happening 76 times, with chimpanzees doing it to themselves or others. The team’s findings were published Monday in Current Biology, complete with the original video of Suzee and her son Sia.
Animals using their natural environment to self-medicate is far from unheard of. Many creatures, including bears, apes, and deer, are thought to ingest plants with medicinal properties. And given that the insects are being applied to wounds, the researchers surmise that the act is some form of medical treatment. If it is, it seems to be the first instance of insect therapy ever spotted in the wild.
Chimps
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