from Bruce
Anecdotes
Problem-Solving
• When he was 13 years old, Steven Spielberg had a problem with a bully who tormented him. He solved the problem by inviting the bully to star in a film he was making of soldiers fighting the Nazis in World War II. During the filming of Battle Squad, the two boys became best friends.
• Even when Aretha Franklin was a school child, she had exceptional musical ability. Whenever the class became too rowdy, her teacher would settle the students down by asking young Aretha to play the piano and sing for them.
• Sometimes, adopted children can be annoyed by nosy questions such as this: “Is that your real brother?” Some adopted children use the answer, “He isn’t fake!”
Siblings
• While managing the Hotel Rand in New York City, Wilson Mizner created a few rules for residents to follow. They included, “No opium-smoking in the elevators,” “Guests must carry out their own dead,” and “No piano-playing before 5 p.m. as it may disturb the other guests.” One day, Mr. Mizner and a friend were walking down the street where the Hotel Rand was located, and Mr. Mizner crossed to the other side of the street, advising his friend, “Never walk under the hotel’s windows. The girls throwing keys down to their friends will knock your brains out.” His brother Henry, a preacher, once stayed at the hotel, so Mr. Mizner went to an employment agency to hire several women and children to sit in the hotel lobby and look respectable.
• When children’s book author Tomie DePaola was in kindergarten, his mother got pregnant, and he let her know that he wanted a sister with a red ribbon in her hair, although his mother told him that he wouldn’t know if he had a brother or a sister until the baby arrived. When the baby arrived, he had a sister. As his parents were bringing the baby home, his mother and father stopped by Woolworth’s, where they bought a red ribbon and tied it in his baby sister’s hair before showing her to him for the first time.
• Buddy Ebsen is perhaps best known as Jed Clampett in the TV series The Beverly Hillbillies; however, he and Vilma Ebsen were a popular brother-and-sister dance team in the 1930s. Buddy was very protective of his sister. Whenever she left in a taxicab, she used to look back and see him writing down the license number of the taxi in a notebook.
• As a boy, movie director Steven Spielberg played pranks on his younger sisters: Sue, Anne, and Nancy. He once locked them in a closet with a skeleton that had a light glowing in its eye socket. And he once cut off the head of Nancy’s favorite doll, then put it on a platter of lettuce, surrounded it with tomato slices, and served it to her.
Sons
• One night, children’s book author/illustrator David McPhail stayed up very late creating an illustration in which the character Henry Bear plays music in the rain. Despite his hard work, he wasn’t sure whether he had correctly drawn the rain, but he knew that if he stayed up any later and worked on the illustration, he could ruin it. Early the next morning, Tristan, his five-year-old son, woke him up. Tristan had the illustration in his hand, and he told his father, “Henry Bear playing music in the rain — it’s good!”
• Feminist Betty Friedan sometimes felt guilty when something she wanted to do for herself interfered with an activity that involved her children. For example, she once turned down a chance to take a class in writing for television so that she could attend her son’s Cub Scout meetings. However, after a few months, her son asked her if he could stop going to the Cub Scout meetings because they were boring. After that, she felt less guilty about doing the things she wanted to do for herself.
• While acting in Jules Massenet’s Don Quichotte, Feodor Chaliapin saw Boris, his son, in the wings. Although the scene required Mr. Chaliapin to be on his knees, crying, he managed to wink at his son with the eye not facing the audience, and even to whisper his son’s Russian name: “Borka, Borka.”
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Popcorn"
Album: EN VIVO YAKARÉ BAR [LIVE YAKARÉ BAR]
Artist: Los Reverb
Artist Location: Maldonado Department, Uruguay
Info: “Popcorn” is a cover of the 1969 instrumental hit composed by Gershon Kingsley.
The album also includes a cover of The Ventures’ “Walk, Don’t Run.”
Recorded live on December 22, 2017 at Yakaré Bar, Maldonado, Uruguay
Price: $1 (USD) for track; $4 (USD) for 12-track album
Genre: Surf Instrumentals.
Links:
EN VIVO YAKARÉ BAR
Los Reverb on Bandcamp
Los Reverb on YouTube
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
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Stephen Suggests
Deep Delusions
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Another lovely marine layer.
NBC Will Not Air In 2022
Golden Globes
Amid growing pressure on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association from studios, stars and large swaths of the film industry, NBC said Monday that will not air the Golden Globes in 2022, putting in doubt the viability of one of Hollywood’s oldest and most-watched award shows.
In a statement, the network said it believes the press association — which is facing possible boycotts over the inclusiveness of its membership from Netflix, Warner Bros. and many Hollywood actors — is committed to reform.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, long a subject of ridicule from even its own telecast hosts, has come under fire following an investigative report in February by The Los Angeles Times that recounted the organization’s questionable record on diversity — including, presently, no Black members among its 87 voting members.
Last week, Netflix and Amazon Studios both said they would cut ties with the HFPA if it didn’t swiftly enact more drastic reforms.
The outcry against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has gathered force over the last six weeks, as a film industry where racial and gender inequity long went unchecked has grown newly intolerant of the ways of the group, made up of mostly little-known journalists who profit considerably from the annual telecast.
Golden Globes
Addressing UN Climate Summit
David Attenborough
Veteran British broadcaster David Attenborough has been appointed the “people’s advocate” at the global climate summit this year, where he is expected to address political leaders about the need for urgent action to tackle the “crippling” threat of climate change.
The 95-year-old, best known for his documentaries on the natural world such as “Planet Earth,” said the coronavirus pandemic has shown how crucial it is to secure international agreements to solve worldwide problems.
“But the problems that await us within the next five to 10 years are even greater,” he said in a short video message Monday.
Britain is hosting the United Nations’ COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.
David Attenborough
Artwork To Go On Display
Bob Dylan
The largest collection of Bob Dylan’s artwork ever seen will go on display later this year in the U.S.
“Retrospectrum” spans six decades of Dylan’s art, featuring more than 120 of the artist’s paintings, drawings and sculptures.
Building on the original “Retrospectrum” exhibition that premiered in Shanghai, China, in 2019, the new version will include new, never-before-seen pieces and additional artworks from a brand-new series called “American Pastoral.”
Debuting in Miami at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum on Nov. 30, 2021, “Retrospectrum” will run through April 17, 2022. So far, Miami is the only stop announced.
Bob Dylan
Who's Vaccinated
Rupert
For all of Fox News opinion host Rupert's Home-Grown Nativist Sock Puppet Tucker Carlson's opinions and misleading statements about COVID-19 vaccines, his own decision on taking the shot remains a mystery.
Carlson is in a unique position with an immense influence over millions of conservatives, effectively becoming the face of both the network's primetime lineup and nascent streaming strategy.
White Republicans - a substantial portion of Carlson's and Fox News' audience - are the demographic with the most vaccine hesitancy in the United States.
President Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up) received his COVID-19 vaccine in private and off camera, while other Republicans have taken the shot publicly to assure voters that it's safe after extensive trials on tens of thousands of people.
Rupert Murdoch (R-Evil Incarnate), the Fox News founder and executive chairman of News Corp, privately took the vaccine back in December.
Rupert
Calls Out Network
David Litt
David Litt, former speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, called out Newsmax on Monday for pushing false claims about the 2020 presidential election — while live on Newsmax. He unexpectedly got his dig in during a segment where he was asked to talk about Elon Musk hosting Saturday Night Live over the weekend.
"What happened on SNL this weekend was that people made stuff up and then said it on television like it's true," Litt said. "And that actually happens pretty frequently in American TV. For example, in 2020, Dominion Voting Systems sued Newsmax over its false claims about election fraud. Newsmax was lying to its own viewers, and Newsmax had to settle that lawsuit."
In April, Newsmax apologized to an employee of Dominion Voting Systems about its false claims about the 2020 presidential election and reportedly settled a defamation lawsuit.
"So actually, I just need to check in," Litt said on Newsmax. "Are you still telling that lie, or are you telling new lies?"
Newsmax host Rob Finnerty was clearly caught off-guard, asking Litt, "Do you want to talk about something completely non-related and try to catch me on a Monday morning totally off topic, or do you want to talk about Elon Musk?" The answer was evidently the former, as Litt continuously pivoted away from SNL to instead slam Newsmax, eventually getting dropped from the air after asking, "Did Dominion Voting Systems have any impact on the 2020 election?"
David Litt
New Panel
Scientific Integrity
Eager to the turn the page on the Trump years, the Biden White House is launching an effort to unearth past problems with the politicization of science within government and to tighten scientific integrity rules for the future.
A new 46-person federal scientific integrity task force with members from more than two dozen government agencies will meet for the first time on Friday. Its mission is to look back through 2009 for areas where partisanship interfered with what were supposed to be decisions based on evidence and research and to come up with ways to keep politics out of government science in the future.
The effort was spurred by concerns that the Trump administration had politicized science in ways that put lives at risk, eroded public trust and worsened climate change.
“We want people to be able to trust what the federal government is telling you, whether it’s a weather forecast or information about vaccine safety or whatever,” said Jane Lubchenco, the deputy director for climate and environment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
People need to know “it’s not by fiat, somebody’s sort of knee-jerk opinion about something,” added Alondra Nelson, the science office’s deputy director for science and society. Nelson and Lubchenco spoke to The Associated Press ahead of a Monday announcement about the task force’s first meeting and part of its composition. It stems from a Jan. 27 presidential memo requiring “evidence-based policy-making.”
Scientific Integrity
Escape Concealed For 1 Week
3 Leopards
Authorities in eastern China hunted Monday for the last of three leopards that escaped from a safari park, which faced strong public criticism for concealing the breakout for nearly a week.
The leopards escaped from Hangzhou Safari Park on April 19 during a handover between zookeepers due to a lapse in operating procedures, officials said at a news conference Monday.
Hangzhou Deputy Mayor Wang Hong said police received calls that leopards were spotted last Thursday and Friday but the safari park denied any had escaped.
The safari park failed to report the escape because it feared that a public announcement would severely reduce the number of visitors to the park over China’s five-day Labor Day holidays, officials said. The park instead attempted to recover the leopards privately, and captured one on April 21.
The safari park eventually reported the missing leopards last Friday night, and a second one was captured on Saturday, they said.
3 Leopards
Illinois Researchers
Ornate Box Turtles
Researchers believe ornate box turtles, once living in half of Illinois' 102 counties, are found in less than 10.
One known home for the species is in Lee County, and a team from the Chicago Zoological Society and the University of Illinois spent Friday surveying the 3,800-acre (1,500-hectare) Nachusa Grasslands.
A team paced through the grasses trying to spot the small turtles, aided by a group of Boykin spaniels that can sniff out the turtles’ trail. When a human or a dog located a turtle, researchers made notes about the reptile's eyes, ears, nose and took physical measurements along with a blood sample.
Ornate box turtles’ shells have distinct yellow markings in a sunburst pattern. They typically weigh about a pound and are 3 or 4 inches (8 to 10 centimeters) in length, said Dr. Matt Allender, the Chicago Zoological Society clinical veterinarian and director of the University of Illinois Wildlife Epidemiology Laboratory.
The health study is in its 15th year. The data collected during Friday's survey will be added to previous years' findings to help researchers determine what is threatening the environment and health of the ornate box turtles.
Ornate Box Turtles
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