Recommended Reading
from Bruce
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Jack Shafer: Don't Piss on the 'New York Times' Paywall (Slate)
At least not yet.
Paul Krugman's Blog: Mind-Changing Events (New York Times)
One question that comes up occasionally in comments is, what would make me change my mind about how the economy works? Associated with this is the question of whether I have ever changed my views drastically in the face of events.
PAUL KRUGMAN: The War on Warren (New York Times)
Last week, at a House hearing on financial institutions and consumer credit, Republicans lined up to grill and attack Elizabeth Warren, the law professor and bankruptcy expert who is in charge of setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Ostensibly, they believed that Ms. Warren had overstepped her legal authority by helping state attorneys general put together a proposed settlement with mortgage servicers, which are charged with a number of abuses.
Paul Krugman's Blog: Rantings of an Ex-Maestro (New York Times)
Greenspan writes in characteristic form: other people may have their models, but he's the wise oracle who knows the deep mysteries of human behavior, who can discern patterns based on his ineffable knowledge of economic psychology and history. Sorry, but he doesn't get to do that any more. 2011 is not 2006. Greenspan is an ex-Maestro; his reputation is pushing up the daisies, it's gone to meet its maker, it's joined the choir invisible.
NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF: The Japanese Could Teach Us a Thing or Two (New York Times)
The selfless teamwork in Japan following the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis can inspire us all.
PASCAL BRUCKNER: Condemned to Joy (City Journal)
The Western cult of happiness is a mirthless enterprise.
Jim Hightower: NEWT FAKES IT
At last, Newt Gingrich has come bucking out of the presidential chute, shouting "Yippie-ty-yi-yo, Here I go!" On March 3, that grizzled old cowpoke working the far-right-wing corral of American politics declared that he's raring to go for the Republican presidential nomination.
Carolyn Foster Segal: The Year in Review (irascibleprofessor.com)
Tiffany waits to talk to me after our film class ends. It is 9:30 p.m. Tiffany has an average of 55. She wants me to know that she is trying her best but that English isn't her thing. Math is. She tells me that she's doing well in the math class that she is currently repeating. She must see something in my expression, because she goes on to explain: the only reason she failed the first time around was because it was accelerated.
Jack Shafer: Why the 'Washington Post' Plagiarism Matters (Slate)
Because it injures readers.
Interview by Rosanna Greenstreet: "Q&A: Hilary Swank" (Guardian)
Q: What is the worst thing anyone's said to you?
A: "When are you going to give up your hobby?" (A teacher in high school.)
Henry Rollins: Michigan's Original Insane Posse (LA Weekly)
The Stooges, eight songs, clocking in at a little over half an hour in length, is a stand-alone, classic, absolutely mandatory listen. The album perfectly nails down the boredom and smoldering alienation of draft-age young men in Vietnam-era America. The album's opener, "1969," addresses the quagmire the war was creating back in the United States as thousands of young men pondered how much time they might have left to live.
David Bruce has 41 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $41 you can buy 10,250 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," and "Maximum Cool."
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Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Comment
Re: 404 Ruskie? oooopsee
Wow the music had these old bones jumping, didn't understand a word
but love good playing,. Now to my chiropracter, always enjoy part of
Barts entertainment.
Old Vet
Thanks, Old Vet!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Rainy morning, cloudy afternoon, cold night.
Trevor Project To Honor
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe looks forward to a tolerant world where young people grow up unaffected by differences in sexual orientation.
For the past couple of years, the "Harry Potter" star has been doing his part to make that a reality with his work with the Trevor Project, the leading organization for suicide prevention efforts among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youths.
For his contribution, Radcliffe is being honored with the organization's Hero Award at a ceremony in New York in June.
Daniel Radcliffe
Photo Exhibit
"Remembering Our Fallen"
A traveling photo exhibit of members of the military from two states who were killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars has inspired its creators to put together similar displays across the country.
Bill and Evonne Williams. of Omaha, Nebraska, formed Patriotic Productions Inc. to create and display "Remembering Our Fallen" exhibits in other states that will feature photos and information on each service member killed.
The exhibit featuring photos of war dead from Nebraska and western Iowa opened in November and has been booked in 39 communities across the state.
The Williams hope to organize and mount exhibits in five states a year. They said inspiration for the project came from reading newspaper coverage of the wars, especially stories of the families of those killed.
"Remembering Our Fallen"
To Receive First Comedy Icon Award
Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy will receive the Comedy Icon Award at the first annual The Comedy Awards, scheduled to air Sunday, April 10 on multiple MTV Networks channels.
The honor will be given yearly to a modern icon, an individual who has contributed to comedy and whose impact has changed the landscape and inspired future generations of entertainers.
Murphy will be recognized for his stand-up, sketch, film and TV work.
Among the presenters and attendees at The Comedy Awards will be Tina Fey, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Fallon, Tracy Morgan, South Park's Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Ty Burrell, Louis C.J., Stephen Colbert, Rob Corddry, Bill Hader, Chloe Moretz, Craig Robinson, Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig.
The Comedy Awards will be broadcast on Comedy Central, Spike, TV Land, VH1 and Nick at Nite on April 10.
Eddie Murphy
TV Land
Count Fran Drescher of "The Nanny" and Wayne Knight of "Seinfeld" among TV veterans returning in new sitcoms.
TV Land network is announcing that Drescher will be back on the air with "Happily Divorced." She will star as a florist who deals with dating after finding out her husband is gay. The network said Monday that "Happily Divorced" will premiere June 15.
A second new sitcom, "The Exes," stars Knight as one of three divorced men who share an apartment across the hall from their divorce attorney, played by Kristen Johnston of "3rd Rock from the Sun." It is slated to debut next winter, along with a second season of "Retired at 35."
TV Land said its first original sitcom, "Hot in Cleveland," will be back with new episodes in June.
TV Land
Old Souls Prefer
Records
In most ways, Sarah McCarthy is your average high schooler. She has a job, college plans, but also a peculiar passion for a 16-year-old: She's a vinyl junkie.
That's right, analog. And none of that hipster new stuff or a USB-ready turntable from Urban Outfitters.
To this senior from Centreville, Md., there's nothing like the raw crackle, the depth of sound, her delicate hand on diamond-tipped stylus to spin from the dusty stash of records she found in the basement of her grandfather - yes, grandfather.
At a time when parents feel positively prehistoric as they explain how to use plastic ice-cube trays or speak of phones with cords and dials, this teen knows what a record is. Not only that, she knows the difference between a 45 and an LP. She met her boyfriend in a record shop and now works there!
Records
Hospital News
Roger Williams
"Autumn Leaves" and "Born Free" pianist Roger Williams is battling pancreatic cancer.
The 86-year-old entertainer known as the "Pianist to the Presidents" because of his many presidential performances writes in an email message to friends that he started chemotherapy last week.
He says doctors told him the tumor cannot be removed because of its size. When chemotherapy shrinks the tumor to an operable size, Williams says surgeons will remove it.
Williams says he's not canceling any upcoming concerts. He performed Sunday at Del Webb's Sun City retirement resort in Palm Desert, and his personal assistant says the concert was sensational.
Roger Williams
Las Vegas Prosecutor Arrested For Buying Cocaine
David Schubert
The Las Vegas deputy district attorney who prosecuted Paris Hilton for cocaine possession was arrested over the weekend after allegedly buying a rock of cocaine, authorities said on Monday.
Clark County Deputy District Attorney David Schubert, 47, was taken into custody in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon and booked on one count of cocaine possession.
Schubert, who has prosecuted Hilton and pop star Bruno Mars on similar charges, was released on Sunday after posting bail and was scheduled for an initial court appearance on Monday.
According to an arrest report, Schubert was spotted picking up another man, identified as Raymond Streeter, while driving his white BMW in a neighborhood known for narcotics dealing.
The pair were followed to an apartment complex, where Streeter allegedly bought cocaine for Schubert. Both men were arrested after a traffic stop turned up cocaine in the car.
David Schubert
Court Won't Get Involved
Eminem
The Supreme Court won't get involved in a fight between Eminem's former production company and Universal Music Group over downloads of the rapper's songs and ringtones.
The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Universal Music Group.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said F.B.T. Productions LLC's contract entitled Eminem and his producers to a 50-50 split with Universal for recordings licensed to digital distributors such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes.
The record label had paid F.B.T. and Eminem 12 percent of sales, the agreed-upon rate for physical albums.
Eminem
Writer Sues Disney/Pixar
"Cars"
A British screenwriter is suing Disney and Pixar, claiming the animated hit "Cars" and its forthcoming sequel are based in part on work he submitted in the early 1990s.
Jake Mandeville-Anthony is seeking an injunction to stop the June 24 theatrical release of "Cars 2." He filed the claim this week in U.S. District Court.
According to the complaint, Mandeville claimed he created a three-part screenplay titled "Cookie & Co.," about the true-life adventure race-car driver Michael Owen Perkins, who won a 1988 race, and a second work titled "Cars," which included a treatment, sample screenplay, 46 animated car character descriptions, 10 cars character sketches and a marketing and merchandising plan.
Mandeville says he sent copies of the works to various production companies, including Disney, and that he met in person with a Lucasfilm executive named Jim Morris in 1993 and delivered copies of his work.
Pixar and Lucasfilm have had relations with each other since the 1980s, when Pixar acquired certain divisions of the George Lucas company. In 2005, according to the complaint, Morris joined Pixar and is currently general manager.
"Cars"
Caps Tax Incentives For Filmmakers
New Mexico
New Mexico's new Republican governor succeeded in her push to get state lawmakers to cap tax incentives for the film industry.
A bill on its way to Governor Susana Martinez's desk after the legislative session ended over the weekend would limit total state film incentives to $50 million a year.
But Martinez, who has called the incentives "a subsidy to Hollywood on the backs of our schoolchildren," did not succeed in getting the incentives cut from 25 percent to 15 percent as she wanted. The 25 percent rebate means that a quarter of any qualified film expenditures in the state are returned to film makers.
Both sides are claiming success, though clearly the state's film industry has taken a hit.
New Mexico
All Is Forgiven
Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen may be out of a job, for now. But according to reports swirling on Monday the actor may be back on television sooner rather than later.
NBC News quoted sources close to Sheen as saying that CBS had offered the actor back his job on the hit comedy "Two and A Half Men", but no deal had been struck and discussions were ongoing.
Elsewhere, The Hollywood Reporter said Sheen met with senior executives at rival network Fox last week for talks. The actor sent a cryptic Tweet over the weekend reading "perhaps a new lair...? A Fox and a Warlock? epic" accompanied by a picture of a Fox television logo.
Celebrity website Radaronline.com on Monday also reported unnamed sources as saying that CBS chief executive Les Moonves wanted to get Sheen and "Two and A Half Men" back on the air, and had spoken with the producer and co-creator Lorre -- the target of much of Sheen's ire.
Charlie Sheen
Says Abducted By Aliens
Sammy Hagar
No doubt Sammy Hagar, a former lead singer for Van Halen, has enjoyed a lot of far out experiences in life, but on Monday, the rocker told perhaps his farthest out tale to MTV. He was abducted by aliens.
In an interview for his new book, "Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock" at mtvhive.com, Hagar lets go of what even he admits might make him "sound like a crazy person" to some readers.
Hagar laughs and goes on to explain that a passage in the book described as a dream in which he is contacted by aliens from outer space in California was, in fact, reality.
"It was real," Hagar told the reporter, according to the story on MTV's Hive website. "They were plugged into me. It was a download situation ... Or, they uploaded something from my brain, like an experiment."
Sammy Hagar
Performs "Star Whackers"
Randy Quaid
First he ran from the star whackers. Now Randy Quaid has taken to a Vancouver concert stage to blast them in song with his backup band, The Fugitives.
The American actor performed two songs at the Commodore Ballroom on Friday night, telling the audience they were about "experiences that my wife and I have gone through for the last few months, and we hope you enjoy them."
The first song had Quaid croon a romantic tune entitled "Will We Be Together Then?" Then came the much-heralded "Star Whackers" song, which referenced TMZ, murdering people and selling their organs on eBay.
The song, captured in a video making the rounds on YouTube and elsewhere online, ended with Quaid on his knees and finally his back, under a lone spotlight and surrounded by wild applause.
Randy Quaid
Baseless Whining
AT&T
AT&T says it wants to buy T-Mobile USA to acquire more airwaves to support the growing use of data-hungry devices such as the iPhone. But if that's the case, the T-Mobile deal isn't much of a solution.
Having the right to use airwaves, or wireless spectrum, is essential to phone companies. More spectrum means more phone calls and more data can be carried in the same area.
But AT&T Inc. already has an ample supply of unused wireless spectrum that it plans to use to expand its network over the next several years. And much of T-Mobile's spectrum is already in use, so the deal won't result in fresh airwaves becoming available.
"The notion that there's a spectrum crisis has been greatly exaggerated for (the) political purposes of a few select companies like AT&T," said Derek Turner, research director at public-interest group Free Press in Washington.
In fact, AT&T has made great strides in addressing network congestion in such cities as New York and San Francisco not by tapping its unused spectrum, but by upgrading its cell-tower equipment.
AT&T
Options Cheney Book
HBO
Politics is hot at HBO. The pay cabler, who earlier this month cast Julianne Moore as former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Quitter) in its upcoming television movie "Game Change," confirmed Monday that it has optioned "Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency" for a miniseries.
Based on the best-seller by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barton Gellman, the miniseries revolves around Richard Bruce Cheney, dating back to his tenure as part of the Nixon administration, then becoming the youngest chief of staff under President Ford, through his tenure with George H.W. Bush and his son's presidency.
Producers said the miniseries will focus on Cheney's "single-minded pursuit of enhanced power for the presidency was unprecedented in the nation's history."
Rick Cleveland ("The West Wing," "Six Feet Under") is set to adapt "Angler." Spring Creek Productions and Fair Catch Productions' Paula Weinstein, who produced HBO's Emmy-winning mini "Recount," will produce with Jeffrey Levine.
HBO
Magic Behind Custom-Made Costumes
DWTS
For Randall Christensen and his wardrobe team at ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," the next 10 weeks are going to be a crystal-encrusted, chiffon-wrapped blur.
"Dancing" is known as much for its dazzling costumes as its disco-ball trophy. Every week, celebrity contestants and their professional partners step out in costumes ranging from glamorous to outrageous; from swingy dresses reminiscent of Ginger Rogers and old Hollywood elegance to skimpy spangled hot pants.
Each outfit is one-of-a-kind, handmade and custom-designed with the dancer's personality, figure and ability in mind. They're couture pieces, cut and assembled by veteran costumers and seamstresses from fabrics selected specifically for each performance. Every feather wisp is glued on individually, each rhinestone and sequin carefully sewn on by hand. And the entire episode's attire is conceived of, styled and stitched into reality in about four days.
"People really don't realize that there's no magic closet that we pull this from. It is a bolt of fabric every Wednesday," says Christensen, a dancer who's been making costumes professionally since 1978. "We never use a ready-made costume ... every single solitary thing is made from scratch."
DWTS
In Memory
Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins
Blues musician Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, who this year became the oldest person ever to win a Grammy Award, died at his Austin home on Monday at age 97.
Perkins won a Grammy, the music world's top award, for best traditional blues album for "Joined at the Hip: Pinetop Perkins & Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith." He also won a 2007 Grammy and a 2005 lifetime achievement Grammy.
Perkins was born in 1913 on a cotton plantation near Belzoni, Mississippi, and became a sideman to blues legends such as Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson.
Never learning to read -- a shortcoming he once said cost him throughout his long career -- Perkins picked cotton and was introduced to whiskey as a boy by his mother. He ran away from home after his grandmother smashed a bottle over his head for not chopping firewood.
The lanky Perkins began playing guitar at house parties and ramshackle "juke joints" in the South, and taught himself to play piano.
He was forced to give up the guitar and stick to piano after a woman sliced open his arm in a Helena, Arkansas, nightspot. The doctor who sewed up the gash left the tendons in his left arm too short for him to finger chords on the guitar.
Perkins adopted his nickname after recording "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie," which he composed for one of his mentors, Clarence "Pinetop" Smith.
He appeared on Williamson's King Biscuit Time radio program in the 1950s and recorded and toured with Earl Hooker, Big Joe Williams and Robert Nighthawk.
While with Williamson, Perkins inspired a young Ike Turner whom he taught to play boogie-woogie -- a style and tempo that evolved in Turner's hands into the song "Rocket 88," which some music historians regard as the first rock 'n' roll song.
In 1969, Waters picked Perkins to replace Otis Spann on piano in his electrified blues band.
After a dozen years, Perkins and some other bandmates left Waters to form the Legendary Blues Band, and he also performed as a sideman on albums by Chicago blues guitarist Buddy Guy and singer Neil Diamond.
He went out on his own when he was in his 80s and in 1988 released an album of Chicago blues entitled "After Hours."
Perkins won blues music's version of the Grammy, the W.C. Handy Award, for keyboard playing for 11 straight years and the prize for traditional blues man in 2004. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2003.
He made appearances in blues clubs alone or in a trio, often sporting a homburg, one foot stomping to the beat -- although never on Sundays.
"I ask the Lord, please forgive me for the stuff I done trying to make a nickel," he told the Tribune.
Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins
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