from Bruce
Anecdotes
Fans
• Comedian Fred Allen once met a fan who told him that she had traveled to New York all the way from San Francisco to see him broadcast his radio program. Mr. Allen replied, “Madame, if I had only known you were coming all that way just to catch my little old show, the least I could have done was meet you halfway — say, about Omaha.”
• A boy named Bobby once wrote a fan letter to comedian Tim Conway and told him to drop by if he was ever in St. Louis, Missouri. The following week, Mr. Conway showed up at Bobby’s front door with his suitcase and said, “Hi, Bobby. You told me to drop in anytime, so I thought I’d stay for a week or two.”
• When comedian Eddie Cantor performed at Carnegie Hall, a very old man told him, “Mr. Cantor, I’ve been a fan of yours since I was a little kid.” Skeptical, the 60-year-old Mr. Cantor asked the very old man, “And how old are you?” The very old man said, “Ninety.”
• Sometimes people go up to celebrities and say, “Your face looks familiar. Haven’t I seen it somewhere?” Comedian George Gobel used to reply, “No, it’s always been right where it is now.”
Fathers
• When Adam Sandler was a little boy, he had a Diver Dan doll. Unfortunately, he lost it. Fortunately, he had a father who cared about him and didn’t want him to be unhappy. His father dressed up as Diver Dan’s father, then told young Adam that Diver Dan was not lost but instead was with him, and he thanked young Adam for taking care of Diver Dan. Today, Mr. Sandler says, “Dad would do anything to make me feel better.”
• When Sarah Silverman was three years old, her father taught her some dirty words, and then he told her to say them to his friends. She and the dirty words got a big laugh. As a grown-up stand-up comedian, Ms. Silverman says, “I realize now the laugh was pure shock value, but it felt really good, and I’ve been chasing it ever since.”
• When Chris Rock was still early in his career as a stand-up comedian, his father asked him how good he was. Chris replied, “I’m one of the best in the country.” His father knew him well, and he knew that Chris was not lying.
Food
• As a struggling, impoverished comedian early in his career, Jackie Gleason and some comedian friends found ways to survive. One thing that they would do was to go to a café and order a meal that one of them paid for. Whoever paid for the meal got the entrée. The others ate the potato, the salad, and the dessert, if there was one. They also went to the Automat, got hot water for free, then added packets of ketchup, Tabasco sauce, A-1 steak sauce, and salt and pepper to create something that resembled tomato soup. In addition, they sometimes ate the rolls or bread that a diner left behind. Another trick was to sleep through breakfast. When you’re sleeping, you’re not hungry. Even later, during his first marriage, things were bad. One February day in 1937, Mr. Gleason got hold of several brochures advertising a one-cent sale. As an advertising gimmick, each brochure had a penny glued to it. Mr. Gleason tore off all the pennies so that he and his wife could buy sandwiches.
• Once in a while, William M. Gaines, publisher of MAD magazine, would invite all the artists and writers to a dinner in a fancy restaurant. (This was a very good idea, as it allowed people — many of them freelancers who just stopped by once in a while to drop off material — to get to know each other. Because the MAD magazine employees were so numerous, they would ask the waiters if they could push some of the tables together. Once given permission, they would quickly form a circle of tables around the waiters, leaving no exit.
• Early in her career — basically before she had a career and while she was still a housewife — Phyllis Diller did a show at the Alameda Naval Air Station, where she was a hit and for which her pay was a 30-pound live turkey. She left it tied outside her apartment that night, and the next morning a couple who lived near her made her an offer: “We’re farm people, so we’ll kill it and share it with you.” Ms. Diller accepted the offer, and each family got 15 pounds of turkey.
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In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: Destrua meu chip quando eu morrer” [“Destroy My Chip When I Die”]
EP: GO! SONGS
Artist: Robotron
Artist Location: Bergen, Norway
Info:
“Robotron came to life in 2015 after some spare time, good ideas, love for instrumental surf music, robots, kaijumonsters, sci-fi themes and did I say robots before? Influenced by Man … or Astroman, Dick Dale, Los Straightjackets, the band managed to build their own sound mixing the reverb from surf music and the overdrive from rock and roll.”
Price: 29.9 Norwegian Krone (NOK); approx. $3.35 (USD) for three-song EP
Genre: Surf. Reverb Overdrive Instrumental.
Links:
GO! SONGS
Robotron on Bandcamp
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Recommended
Horrific scenes in battle for Kyiv as families killed fleeing Russian onslaught - BBC News
Scott Galloway: Yachts & War
Being a Russian elite 50 years ago was different. When Brezhnev sent tanks into Prague, his buddies weren’t worried about docking their yachts in the south of France. At most, wealth meant purchasing an abandoned castle off the coast of Leningrad. In 2022 it means flying to your 200-acre Aspen ranch in a Gulfstream 650ER. Also: having mansions in St. Tropez, St. Barts, Tel Aviv, Monte Carlo, and Kensington, three Central Park penthouses, a majority stake in a European football club, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, and two 500-foot yachts. BTW, a fleet of the 20 largest Russian-owned luxury yachts is worth more than Ukraine’s defense budget.
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Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny but on the cool side.
This Explains A Lot
Lead
Over 170 million U.S.-born people who were adults in 2015 were exposed to harmful levels of lead as children, a new study estimates.
Researchers used blood-lead level, census and leaded gasoline consumption data to examine how widespread early childhood lead exposure was in the country between 1940 and 2015.
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, they estimated that half the U.S. adult population in 2015 had been exposed to lead levels surpassing five micrograms per deciliter — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention threshold for harmful lead exposure at the time.
The scientists from Florida State University and Duke University also found that 90% of children born in the U.S. between 1950 and 1981 had blood-lead levels higher than the CDC threshold. And the researchers found significant impact on cognitive development: on average, early childhood exposure to lead resulted in a 2.6-point drop in IQ.
The researchers only examined lead exposure caused by leaded gasoline, the dominant form of exposure from the 1940s to the late 1980s, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Leaded gasoline for on-road vehicles was phased out starting in the 1970s, then finally banned in 1996.
Lead
Edwin MacDowell Medal
Sonia Sanchez
The poet, activist and educator Sonia Sanchez is this year’s winner of the Edward MacDowell Medal, a lifetime achievement honor started in 1960 and previously given to Robert Frost, Toni Morrison and Stephen Sondheim among others.
MacDowell is an artist residency founded in 1907, with fellows over the past century including James Baldwin, Leonard Bernstein, Louise Erdrich and Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Sanchez was a prominent figure in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, and is known for such poetry collections as “Homegirls and Handgrenades” and “Shake Loose My Skin.”
Novelist Walter Mosley will present Sanchez her medal on July 10 on the MacDowell grounds in Peterborough, New Hampshire, the first in-person ceremony since 2019, the year before the pandemic.
Sonia Sanchez
Joins ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Stage Tour
Mary Badham
Mary Badham, Hollywood’s original Scout Finch in the 1962 film of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, has been cast in the touring stage production of Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation. This time around, Badham, who has acted infrequently in the decades since her indelible performance in the classic movie, will portray Scout’s mean-as-a-snake drug-addicted racist neighbor Mrs. Dubose.
Badham’s surprise casting was announced today by producers, who unveiled the complete cast of the play’s first national tour. The tour, which stars the previously announced Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch, launches March 27 in Buffalo, before moving on to Boston, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati and other cities.
The Broadway production of Sorkin’s adaptation is currently on hiatus and is scheduled to reopen with Greg Kinnear as Atticus on June 1. Jeff Daniels originated the role when Mockingbird opened in 2018 and returned when the production re-opened (at the Shubert Theatre) following the pandemic shutdown. Producers decided to pause production at the height of the Omicron surge in mid-January, and then announced plans to reopen at the smaller Belasco Theatre this summer.
On Broadway, the role of Mrs. Dubose, which Badham will play on tour, was originated by the late Phyllis Somerville. The character was played by Ruth White in the film version.
In addition to Badham and Thomas (who rose to fame on The Waltons and has appeared on Broadway multiple times in various roles), the tour will feature Melanie Moore as Scout Finch, Jacqueline Williams as Calpurnia, Justin Mark as Jem Finch, Yaegel T. Welch as Tom Robinson and Steven Lee Johnson as Dill Harris. They are joined by Joey Collins as Bob Ewell, Richard Poe as Judge Taylor, Luke Smith as Horace Gilmer, Arianna Gayle Stucki as Mayella Ewell, David Christopher Wells as Sheriff Heck Tate, Anthony Natale as Link Deas, Liv Rooth as Miss Stephanie, and Travis Johns as Mr. Cunningham.
Mary Badham
Comedy Series
‘The Muppets Mayhem’
Disney+ has given an official green light to The Muppets Mayhem, a comedy series headlined by several Muppet stars and Lilly Singh (A Little Late with Lilly Singh).
Developed and written by The Goldbergs creator Adam F. Goldberg, Muppets veteran Bill Barretta and Jeff Yorkes, the series will follow The Electric Mayhem Band as they go on an epic musical journey to finally record their first studio album. Singh will play the (human) lead role of Nora, a driven junior A&R executive tasked with managing and wrangling the mayhem that is The Electric Mayhem Band. With the help of Nora, the old-school Muppet band comes face to face with the current-day music scene as they try to finally go platinum.
The Electric Mayhem Band consists of Dr. Teeth on vocals and keyboards, Animal on drums, Floyd Pepper on vocals and bass, Janice on vocals and lead guitar, Zoot on saxophone and Lips on trumpet.
The Disney Branded Television series, produced by ABC Signature and The Muppets Studio for Disney+, had been in the works for a while under Goldberg’s overall deal with ABC Signature. The Muppets Mayhem quietly was greenlighted weeks ago contingent on closing deals with the Muppets performers, which took awhile.
‘The Muppets Mayhem’
‘Silence Is Unacceptable’
Di$ney
As the Walt Disney Co. takes heat for a report detailing how the company has financially backed all of the sponsors of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, employees and artists associated with Disney have taken to social media to criticize its response to the bill.
Particularly upsetting many staffers is CEO Bob Chapek’s memo expressing “unwavering commitment to the LGBTQ+ community” despite the lack of a public statement opposing the bill, which would limit discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
The email, which Chapek sent to Disney staffers on Monday, reads: “In terms of our communities, we are and will continue to be a leader in supporting organizations that champion diversity. In 2021, we provided nearly $3 million to support the work of LGBTQ+ organizations. And, we have a long history of supporting important events like Pride parades.” Directly addressing Disney’s silence on the bill, Chapek added, “I do not want anyone to mistake a lack of statement for a lack of support. We all share the same goal of a more tolerant, respectful world. Where we may differ is in the tactics to get there.”
The reaction from Disney-affiliated individuals has been a mix of disappointment and frustration.
“[Disney is] starting to include more LGBT characters that let kids know that being gay is all right. But when they have donated to the sponsors and co-sponsors of the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill and they have made no position against this bill, and they are going to continue donating to these politicians, they are essentially saying that this bill is OK,” said animation writer Benjamin Siemon in a video posted on Twitter. “This bill is going to hurt kids, and that’s why I’m asking Disney to please take a position on the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill and say that it’s wrong and say that you’re going to stop donating to the politicians that vote for it.”
Di$ney
1,000-Year-Old Mummy
Peru
The remains of 20 people who may have been victims of ritual sacrifice have been found near a mummy in Peru.
The mummy, a male, was found in 2021 in an underground tomb at the ancient city of Cajamarquilla, on the outskirts of Lima. The man was lying in a fetal position, and the remarkable preservation of the mummy made headlines around the world. At the time, archaeologists believed the man was between 18 and 22 years old when he died, but new research suggests the man was roughly 35 years old at the time of his mummification, the researchers said in a statement about the discovery. Archaeologists named the mummy "Chabelo."
The newfound remains include those of eight children who were wrapped in funerary bundles, as well as the skeletons of 12 adults. Some of the children have evidence of violence, such as fractures, and it's possible that some of the children were sacrificed as part of a funerary ritual, the researchers said.
The team plans to perform DNA analysis and radiocarbon dating on the remains to learn more about the people.
The city of Cajamarquilla had four pyramids around 1,000 years ago, when the man lived. At the time, it was an important place for trade between people who lived in the coastal and mountainous areas of Peru. However, only about 1% of the site has been excavated, the archaeologists said in the statement.
Peru
Rare Gold Coin
Hungary
Excavators in Hungary have discovered a "very rare" gold Roman coin that features the face of a murdered Roman emperor.
The third-century coin depicts Emperor Volusianus, who co-ruled the Roman Empire for about two years with his father, until the emperor was assassinated at age 22 by his own soldiers. Because of Volusianus' short reign, coins bearing his face are rare. What's more, the coin's denomination is rare, as is finding gold coins from the Roman period in Hungary, said Máté Varga, an archaeologist at the University of Szeged in Hungary and head of the excavation.
The coin was unearthed by a museologist of the Rippl-Rónai Museum in Kaposvár, along with museum volunteers in early 2022. The group was excavating a Roman settlement in Somogy County in southwestern Hungary, but Varga declined to elaborate on the site's whereabouts.
The excavators found the 0.2-ounce (5.6 grams) gold coin — known as an aureus — during a metal detector survey of the site, Varga noted. The coin was minted during the rule of Volusianus, or between A.D. 251 and 253.
One side of the coin features a portrait of the bearded emperor with a crown of rays on his head, while the other side depicts Libertas, the personification of freedom, Varga said.
Hungary
300-Year-Old Mystery
Mummified 'Mermaid'
A team of researchers from the Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts are conducting scientific analyses of the mummified remains of the mysterious icon to determine what they are actually composed of.
The “mermaid mummy,” which measures around 1 foot, has earned its name for having an upper body that appears to be human and a lower body that looks like a fish tail.
The 300-year-old mummy, which has retained its nails, teeth and hair over the years, has also maintained the eerie expression of a screaming child.
Kozen Kuida, the chief priest at Enjuin temple in the city of Asakuchi, took out the artifact from the wooden box where it has been stored inside the school’s veterinary hospital for an examination on Feb. 2.
A note inside the box claims that the mysterious creature was caught in a fishing net on the coast of Tosa Province (now Kochi Prefecture) between 1736 and 1741. The mummy was passed on to other owners after the turn of the Meiji Era (1868-1912) and ended up being acquired by the Enjuin temple.
Mummified 'Mermaid'
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