Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Annabel Carberry in "A Glass of Red"
Annabel and the Lost In Translation Circus.
Paul Krugman: Crash of the Bumblebee (New York Times)
So could the euro be saved? Yes, probably. Should it be saved? Yes, even though its creation now looks like a huge mistake. For failure of the euro wouldn't just cause economic disruption; it would be a giant blow to the wider European project, which has brought peace and democracy to a continent with a tragic history. But will it actually be saved? Despite Mr. Draghi's show of determination, that is, as I said, very much in doubt.
Ted Rall: Gun Control Talk Is Cheap. A Sane Mental Health System Is Not
Setting aside the caveat that we still don't know why it happened, the big guns/crazy young white guy dynamic leads to two obvious policy prescriptions: gun control and improving access to mental health care.
Henry Rollins: Americans will Never Give Up Their Guns (LA Weekly)
America enjoys some global-high stats when it comes to death and injury via guns. Hell, America kicks ass in homicide, suicide, traffic fatality and incarceration like no other country. I am convinced that it's not the guns that make America a sometimes dangerous place to live. As always, it's the people.
'I was gutted that I'd been such a coward': photographers who didn't step in to help (Guardian)
What's it like to witness a mob attack, a starving child or the aftermath of a bomb, and take a photograph instead of stopping to help?
How to get paid to watch Netflix
Early in its existence, Netflix tested out film tags provided by external companies, but found that they failed in comparison to actual human taggers.
Lena Corner: Our dad, Joe Strummer, remembered (Guardian)
Ten years after the death of the Clash frontman, his daughters Jazz and Lola remember his freewheeling home life.
Charlie Jane Anders: George R.R. Martin breaks it down for you about sex and violence in entertainment (io9)
"I can describe an axe entering a human skull in great explicit detail and no one will blink twice at it. I provide a similar description, just as detailed, of a penis entering a vagina, and I get letters about it and people swearing off. To my mind this is kind of frustrating, it's madness. Ultimately, in the history of [the] world, penises entering vaginas have given a lot of people a lot of pleasure. Axes entering skulls, well, not so much."-- George R.R. Martin
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
wrote:
took the day off.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Comment
Re: Robert Duvall dinner
Wish we knew what those Republican suckers will be served at their $25,000 a plate dinner at Duvall's home.
I ate at his restaurant in Middleburg once. I was not impressed.
Linda >^..^<
Thanks, Linda!
Not that I'd expect all that much from the original Frank Burns.
Day 22
Gulf Fritillary
Came across some Gulf Fritillary larva
on the back fence, so it looks like we'll have a third year of raising butterflies. : )
Click on any picture for a larger version.
BadtotheboneBob
Michigan
From the 'The Reports of our Demise are Greatly Exaggerated' File...
Movin' On
The Vidiot
VidiotSpeak has been out of commission for a while now so you might as
well remove the link from your page.
I've moved on to other things: travelanarchy.com
Hope all is well and thanks for your linking to us when we were 'alive.' I
know we got a good amount of traffic from you all.
Rox
Thanks, Rox - good luck & happy trails!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Warmer and more humid.
Outnumber Westboro Loons
'Zombies'
The Westboro Baptist Church had recently announced that it would be holding one of its protests outside the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in DuPont, Washington. But last Friday, the controversial group was met with a far larger group of counterprotesters-dressed as zombies.
The controversial, Kansas-based church did not explain exactly why it was protesting in DuPont, but it has held a number of similar protests outside of military funerals in objection to gay rights.
That's when Melissa Neace and three of her friends organized the Facebook event "Zombie'ing Westboro Baptist Church AWAY from Fort Lewis!"
The event page received such a positive response that the zombies outnumbered the protestors by a reported level of 300 to 8, the News Tribune reported.
'Zombies'
Trial Begins
"Pussy Riot"
Three women who protested against Vladimir Putin in a "punk prayer" on the altar of Russia's main cathedral went on trial on Monday in a case seen as a test of the longtime leader's treatment of dissent during a new presidential term.
The women from the band "Pussy Riot" face up to seven years in prison for an unsanctioned performance in February in which they entered Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral, ascended the altar and called on the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out!"
Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, were brought to Moscow's Khamovniki court for Russia's highest-profile trial since former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was convicted for a second time in 2010, in the same courtroom.
Supporters chanted "Girls, we're with you!" and "Victory!" as the women, each handcuffed by the wrist to a female officer, were escorted from police van into the courthouse.
The stunt was designed to highlight the close relationship between the dominant Russian Orthodox Church and former KGB officer Putin, then prime minister, whose campaign to return to the presidency in a March election was backed clearly, if informally, by the leader of the church, Patriarch Kirill.
"Pussy Riot"
Hedgehog Not Voting For Willard
Ron Jeremy
Mitt Romney had better ditch that trip to Poland and head back to the United States posthaste to shore up his teetering adult film star base. The presumptive Republican nominee just lost Ron Jeremy's endorsement, and with it the support of millions of Americans who turn to the porn legend for political guidance.
Jeremy, whose more than 2,000 adult film credits clearly make him an expert on presidential politics and the American electorate, told the Boston Herald this week that he will be casting his vote for Barack Obama.
Despite his decision to back the current White House occupant, Jeremy (porn name: "The Hedgehog") did have some nice things to say about Romney, calling him a "good man."
Ron Jeremy
Special For CW
'Dr. Horrible'
The CW network says the 2008 online hit "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" will air as an hour-long special in October.
The musical stars Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother") as Billy, aka Dr. Horrible, an inept would-be villain trying for world domination. Nathan Fillion ("Castle") co-stars as Dr. Horrible's nemesis, Captain Hammer. Felicia Day plays Penny, Dr. Horrible's crush.
"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" was directed and co-written by Joss Whedon ("The Avengers," ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). It's scheduled to air on CW on Oct. 9.
'Dr. Horrible'
Yep, It's A Trilogy
'The Hobbit'
Peter Jackson is adding a third film to what was planned to be the two-part series "The Hobbit."
The director of the Oscar-winning "The Lord of the Rings" movies said Monday that after viewing a cut of the first film and part of the second that there was room for a third.
Jackson says in a statement that a lot of J.R.R. Tolkien's tale of Bilbo Baggins would remain untold if a third film wasn't made. The films are set in the fictional world of Middle-earth 60 years before "The Lord of the Rings."
Jackson, his wife Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro are listed as co-writers of the first two films.
'The Hobbit'
Works Cheap
Paul McCartney
London Olympic organizers say former Beatle Paul McCartney and other star performers who took part in Friday's opening ceremony essentially donated their time - receiving a mere pound ($1.57) - for their performances.
The nominal fee was offered to make the Olympics contracts binding - but pales in comparison to the millions big names like McCartney can command for a stadium gig.
Other performers such as Mike Oldfield, Dizzee Rascal and Emeli Sande are also thought to have received the nominal fee.
Director Danny Boyle's "Isles of Wonder" extravaganza featured British music that spanned generations, right up to live performances from two of the hottest homegrown acts of the moment: grime star Rascal and the band Arctic Monkeys.
Paul McCartney
Author Acknowledges Quotes, Resigns
Bob Dylan
A staff writer for The New Yorker has resigned and his latest book has been halted after he acknowledged inventing quotes by Bob Dylan.
Jonah Lehrer released a statement Monday through his publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that some Dylan quotes appearing in his book "Imagine: How Creativity Works" did "not exist." Others were "unintentional misquotations, or represented improper combinations of previously existing quotes."
Lehrer said he acknowledged his actions after being contacted by Michael Moynihan of the online publication Tablet Magazine, which earlier Monday released an in-depth story on the Dylan passages in "Imagine"
"I told Mr. Moynihan that they (the quotes in question) were from archival interview footage provided to me by Dylan's representatives. This was a lie spoken in a moment of panic. When Mr. Moynihan followed up, I continued to lie, and say things I should not have said," Lehrer wrote in his statement.
Houghton Mifflin said in a statement that Lehrer had committed a "serious misuse." Listings for the e-book edition of "Imagine" will be removed and shipments of the physical book have been stopped. "Imagine" was published in March and had been selling well, ranking No. 105 on Amazon.com as of midday Monday.
Bob Dylan
ABC Pulls Show
Fred Willard
Fred Willard's improv series is a wipeout with ABC.
The network is pulling the last two original episodes of "Trust Us With Your Life," a move that comes two weeks after Willard's lewd conduct arrest at an adult movie theater.
Reruns of ABC's "Wipeout" will replace the Tuesday show hosted by Willard. The 72-year-old actor already had lost his job as narrator of a new PBS series, "Market Warriors."
In an appearance last week on Jimmy Fallon's late-night show, Willard said he was embarrassed by his July 18 arrest but insisted he had done nothing wrong.
Fred Willard
Sale OK'd By Feds
A&E
Federal antitrust authorities have officially cleared Comcast's sale of its shares of the A&E network to the Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Corporation, theFederal Trade Commission has announced.
The $3.03 billion deal will involve cash and a note issued by A&E. Disney and Hearst will each control half of the company, which Comcast picked up as part of its 2011 purchase of a controlling interest in NBC Universal.
With the sale of Comcast's stake, A&E now has a valuation of $20 billion, a clear indication of the high premium that investors put on cable channels with their strong advertising and retransmission revenues.
As a minority shareholder, Comcast had the option to sell its stake in the company, which was created after the 2009 merger of A&E and Lifetime, which Comcast also owns.
In return for selling A&E, Comcast gets cash that it can use to bolster NBC's flagging primetime line-up or acquire a larger interest in NBC Universal. Comcast hopes it can buy out General Electric's stake in the entertainment company by 2014.
A&E
'Weeds' Finale; 'Big C' To Wrap
Showtime
The end is near for Showtime's "Weeds" and "The Big C."
The cable channel said Monday that the series finale of "Weeds," the drug comedy starring Mary-Louise Parker, will air Sept. 16. "The Big C," which stars Laura Linney as a woman facing cancer, will wrap its run with four one-hour episodes, Showtime said.
Two Showtime dramas, "Homeland" and "Dexter," will begin their new seasons on Sept. 30, the channel told a meeting of the Television Critics Association.
On tap later this year on Showtime: a 10-part documentary titled "Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States." Stone's take on American history will debut Nov. 12.
Showtime
Early Sketches Of Muppets To Auction
Jim Henson
A handwritten pitch and drawings for the television pilot episode of "The Muppet Show" by creator Jim Henson are among items being sold at an upcoming sale of Hollywood memorabilia, auction house Nate D. Sanders said on Monday.
The collection of illustrations, which includes an original Polaroid of Miss Piggy and Henson's handwritten pitch of story ideas, marks the early stages of development for the lovable characters including Kermit the Frog that have become an American pop culture staple.
The complete Muppets lot is expected to fetch between $35,000 and $40,000 at the July 31 auction.
Henson's characters, which include Kermit, Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear, helmed "The Muppet Show" on TV between 1976 and 1981, before appearing in numerous films including 1992's "The Muppet Christmas Carol," and most recently, 2011's "The Muppets" movie.
Jim Henson
In Memory
Chris Marker
Chris Marker, the influential French filmmaker whose career spanned six decades, has died, France's Culture Ministry confirmed Monday. He was 91.
President Francois Hollande led tributes to the director, whose large body of work includes the 1962 classic "La Jetée" - an award-winning post-apocalyptic movie that's often ranked among the best time-travel films ever made.
Set in a post-World War III nuclear-devastated Paris, "La Jetée" tells the story of a prisoner sent to the past and future to save the present. The film was one of the first to use sci-fi notions of circular time and has since spawned a myriad of references.
"La Jetée" will probably be best remembered as the inspiration behind Terry Gilliam's 1995 feature "Twelve Monkeys," but many critics say its influence stretches as far as James Cameron's 1984 and 1991 "Terminator" movies.
Marker - born Christian François Bouche-Villeneuve and still active into his 80s - was also known for the documentary style seen in his other famous work 1983's experimental essay-film "Sunless (Sans Soleil)," which again takes up the time themes used in his earlier material.
In "Sunless (Sans Soleil)," the thoughts of a world traveler are narrated and used to look at the failings of human memory; especially in creating world history.
Marker's work was often politically engaged, and in 1967 he produced "Far from Vietnam," a documentary film featuring pieces by Jean-Luc Godard and Alain Resnais that opposed U.S. involvement in southeast Asia.
Chris Marker
In Memory
Tony Martin
Tony Martin, the romantic singer who appeared in movie musicals from the 1930s to the 1950s and sustained a career in records, television and nightclubs from the Depression era into the 21st century, has died. He was 98.
A peer of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, Martin sang full voice in a warm baritone that carried special appeal for his female audience. Among his hit recordings were "I Get Ideas," ''To Each His Own," ''Begin the Beguine" and "There's No Tomorrow."
Although he never became a full-fledged movie star, he was featured in 25 films, most of them made during the heyday of the Hollywood musicals. A husky 6 feet tall and dashingly handsome, he was often cast as the romantic lead.
He also married two movie musical superstars, Alice Faye and Cyd Charisse, and the latter union lasted 60 years, until her death in 2008.
Martin found his escape through music while growing up in San Francisco and Oakland amid a poor, close-knit Russian Jewish family, enduring taunts and slights from gentile classmates.
Performing on radio led to his break into the film business. His first singing role came in the 1936 "Sing, Baby, Sing," which starred future wife Faye and introduced the Ritz Brothers to the screen as a more frenetic version of the Marx Brothers.
As a contract player at Twentieth Century-Fox, Martin also appeared in "Pigskin Parade", "Banjo on My Knee", "Sing and Be Happy," ''You Can't Have Everything", "Ali Baba Goes to Town" and "Sally, Irene and Mary."
In 1940 he shifted to MGM and sang in such films as "The Ziegfeld Girl", "The Big Store", "Till the Clouds Roll By," ''Easy to Love" and "Deep in My Heart."
Martin had fallen in love with Faye while at Fox, where she was one of the studio's biggest stars. Married in 1937, the newlyweds were considered one of Hollywood's handsomest couples. But the marriage eroded because of career conflicts and his distaste for becoming known as Mr. Alice Faye. They divorced after two years.
In later years, Martin and Charisee put out a 1976 double autobiography, "The Two of Us," and often toured in a singing and dancing shows. He continued appearances into his 90s, his voice only slightly tarnished by time.
Martin was born Dec. 25, 1913. His parents divorced when he was an infant.
He attended St. Mary's College of California, where he and other students formed a popular jazz combo, The Five Red Peppers. After college, he formed Al Morris and His Orchestra, and played in San Francisco nightclubs like the Chez Paree, often appearing on late-night national radio.
World War II brought the one big scandal in his life. He enlisted in the Navy in 1941 and was given a specialist ranking. A year later, a Navy officer who facilitated Martin's enlistment was court-martialed, accused of accepting a $950 automobile from him. The singer was not charged but was dismissed from the Navy for unfitness. He asked his draft board for immediate induction into the Army and served three years in Asia.
The scandal lingered over Martin's head after the war, but he managed to rebuild his career with radio, films, personal appearances and records.
He is survived by stepson Nico Charisse.
Tony Martin
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