Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Joe Bob Briggs: Who Needs the Oscars? (Taki's Magazine)
Listen, people: Nobody "deserves" or doesn't deserve an Oscar. It isn't something you work toward through rigorous peer review, like going after your Ph.D. in physics. It's a 13-inch tin totem with a gold-plate veneer on it that rubs off if you handle it too much. You get one by winning a secret vote-like in a fraternity-and the only people who can vote are those who got the same award in the past and became members of an organization that was created in the 1920s to bust the Hollywood unions. It's an organization of producers, not artists, and their goal is to maximize year-to-year revenue, like the board of directors of similar trade organizations representing coal-mining companies, sheep farmers, and condom makers.
Paul Waldman: Trump's attacks on the Mueller probe hit another snag (Washington Post)
Then [the Nunes smemo] was finally released, and what happened? It was a bunch of absurd, misleading, and tendentious claims that were greeted with derision by almost everyone. It did not blow any lids off anything. […] Nunes was ridiculed mercilessly, the White House was embarrassed, and Robert Mueller's investigation just kept going. The fact that Trump is not simply declassifying all these new documents tells me that he's afraid this would wind up being the Nunes memo all over again, and there's a good chance he'd be right. […] It's yet another reminder that the defense of the president against the Russia probe is being carried out by a bunch of clowns led by a fool.
Jonathan Chait: Ted Cruz Attacks Beto O'Rourke for Denouncing Police Murder in a Black Church (NY Mag)
Botham Shem Jean was murdered in his apartment by a police officer, and the most exculpatory account for her actions - that she mistakenly believed she was in her own home - is highly damning. Dallas police subsequently leaked the claim that Jean possessed a small amount of marijuana in his home in a blatant attempt to tarnish his image and retroactively justify the murder.
Matthew Yglesias: Trump's latest interview shows Republicans have nothing to run on in November (Vox)
Trump, as usual, doesn't know what he's talking about. … Here, for example, is the president explaining his trade policy: "It is time to take a stand on China. It has been a long time they have been hurting us. Our farmers are great and starting to do very well again." … Farmers are, of course, hurting quite badly from the disruption of trade with China. Indeed, the US Department of Agriculture reports that this year farm income "is forecast to decline $11.4 billion (14.8 percent) from 2017."
Andrew Tobias: How To Lose Weight, Quit Smoking, And Save The World
(And - FREE BONUS! - note her link to a separate study, of a separate weight-loss idea, showing that if you take a whiff of peppermint every two hours, you'll consume 2,800 fewer calories a week.)
MM Owen: Our age of horror (AEON)
In this febrile cultural moment filled with fear of the Other, horror has achieved the status of true art.
The Guardian view on lengthening books: read them and weep (Editorial)
The judges of the Man Booker prize have complained that some entries needed editing. As titles grow longer, the patience of readers can shorten.
Simon Hattenstone: "Agnès Varda: 'I am still alive, I am still curious. I am not a piece of rotting flesh'" (The Guardian)
The 90-year-old giant of the Nouvelle Vague on her latest film, Faces Places, life with Jacques Demy, and that 'dirty rat' Jean-Luc Godard.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• After seeing actress Diana Rigg in a brief nude scene in the play Abelard and Heloise, caustic critic John Simon wrote, "Diana Rigg is built like a brick mausoleum with insufficient flying buttresses." The next day, as Ms. Rigg went to the theater, she hoped that no one would recognize her. Fortunately, all of the cast members knew better than to mention the review. After a few weeks, however, she began to think the review funny and soon started quoting it. (By the way, Ms. Rigg knows an actress-not herself-who once saw Mr. Simon in a New York restaurant and took the opportunity to dump a plate of potato salad on his head.)
• Betty White, the star of The Golden Girls, and Carol Channing, the star of Hello, Dolly, are friends. Once, Ms. White played the lead in Hello, Dolly in several Ohio cities, then teased her friend by saying that everyone felt the production was much better than the original starring Ms. Channing. However, Ms. Channing simply replied, "Your mother said what?"
• The comedy team of Moran and Mack was popular early in this century, but in the 1930s, they made a movie, Hypnotized, of which critic Richard Watts, Jr., wrote, "There is a certain academic interest to be found in Hypnotized, for if you haven't seen it you cannot realize how bad a motion picture can be."
• Douglas Jerrold was a honest critic, dispraising even books written by his friends. One such friend waved his book under Mr. Jerrold's nose, then complained, "I hear you said this was the worst book I ever wrote." Mr. Jerrold replied, "No, I didn't. I said it was the worst book anybody ever wrote."
• George Bernard Shaw was a music critic, and of course he disliked bad musicians. While dining in a restaurant, he was "entertained" by a very bad orchestra. During a break, the conductor asked Mr. Shaw if there was anything he wanted the musicians to play. Mr. Shaw replied, "Dominoes."
• Once some university members were discussing setting up a new chair of musical criticism. Sir Thomas Beecham, the noted conductor, said, "If there is to be a chair for critics, I think it should be an electric chair."
• When George Bernard Shaw began writing his forceful literary criticism, someone remarked to Oscar Wilde that Shaw was likely to make a lot of enemies. Mr. Wilde responded, "As yet he hasn't become prominent enough to have any enemies. But none of his friends like him."
• Critic James Agate once praised actress Lilian Braithwaite as being London's second-best dramatic actress. She replied that she was thankful to receive such high praise from London's second-best critic.
• In 1933, Katherine Hepburn acted on Broadway in The Lake. Dorothy Parker reviewed the play, saying that Ms. Hepburn "ran the whole gamut of emotions from A to B."
• Critic Michael Billington once wrote about a revival of a musical: "For those of you who missed it the first time, this is your golden opportunity: You can miss it again."
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JESUS IS GOING TO SAVE HIM. HEE HAW!
SORRY, WRONG NUMBER.
TUCKER DUCKS AND COVERS.
A CLOGGED TOILET!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and a bit cooler than seasonal.
Dictionary Adds 'OK,' 'Ew'
Scrabble
Scrabble players, time to rethink your game because 300 new words are coming your way, including some long-awaited gems: OK and ew, to name a few.
Merriam-Webster released the sixth edition of "The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary" on Monday, four years after the last freshening up. The company, at the behest of Scrabble owner Hasbro Inc., left out one possibility under consideration for a hot minute - RBI - after consulting competitive players who thought it potentially too contentious. There was a remote case to be made since RBI has morphed into an actual word, pronounced rib-ee.
But that's OK because, "OK."
There's more good news in qapik, adding to an arsenal of 20 playable words beginning with q that don't need a u. Not that Scrabblers care all that much about definitions, qapik is a monetary unit in Azerbaijan.
Now, the official dictionary holds more than 100,000 words. Other newcomers Sokolowski shared are aquafaba, beatdown, zomboid, twerk, sheeple, wayback, bokeh, botnet, emoji, facepalm, frowny, hivemind, puggle and nubber.
Scrabble
Weird Al As Rivers Cuomo
Weezer's 'Africa'
No one really expected Weezer to grace us with a cover of Toto's hit "Africa," but thanks to one girl on Twitter and a swell of social media support, we got that cover - and a damn good one at that.
On Monday, Weezer released a video for its version of "Africa," which stars "Weird Al" Yankovic as Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo in a parody of the band's first video, 1994's "Undone - The Sweater Song."
With this latest music video, Weezer has made Toto's "Africa" into something new - using something old ("The Sweater Song" video), something borrowed (Weird Al and "Africa") and something blue (the color of the set and the nickname of its self-titled first studio record, which featured "The Sweater Song").
We're exhausted to think about what else the group's members might have up their sleeves. Assuming those sleeves aren't on sweaters currently coming undone.
Weezer's 'Africa'
Final Film Gets Netflix Documentary
Orson Welles
It's a very exciting year for Orson Welles fans. Not only will cinephiles the world over soon be treated to a never-before-seen, brand spanking new Orson Welles film, "The Other Side of the Wind," but this monumental cinematic event will be accompanied by a fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary. Directed by Oscar winner Morgan Neville ("20 Feet From Stardom"), "They'll Love Me When I'm Dead" follows the "Citizen Kane" filmmaker throughout the final 15 years of his life and career, as he struggles to finish his deeply personal last film.
Beginning in 1970, "They'll Love Me When I'm Dead" charts Welles' attempt to create one last masterpiece, and the toils of making a film as a fallen darling of Hollywood. The movie takes its title from a phrase of Welles, as related by friend and collaborator Peter Bogdanovich, which bears the mark of a somewhat accusatory prescience. In addition to Bogdanovich, who was instrumental in completing "The Other Side of the Wind," subjects interviewed in "They'll Love Me When I'm Dead" include Frank Marshall, Oja Kodar and daughter Beatrice Welles.
Following a special presentation at the New York Film Festival on September 29, Netflix will release "They'll Love Me When I'm Dead" worldwide on November 2, concurrently with "The Other Side of the Wind," which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August.
Orson Welles
Retires
James Lipton
Nearly 25 years after its debut on Bravo, "Inside the Actors Studio" is swapping networks - and hosts. Ovation TV is set to announce Monday morning that it has sealed a new deal with the Actors Studio to become the new home and producer of the long-running interview series.
As part of the announcement, series creator, host and executive producer James Lipton has announced that he is retiring. Lipton will be replaced by a rotating list of celebrity guest hosts until a permanent guest host is eventually identified.
The new "Inside the Actors Studio" season won't premiere on Ovation until fall 2019, giving the network time to stockpile at least 10 episodes to air as a full season.
As part of the deal, Ovation will also have access to older episodes in the "Inside the Actors Studio" library, and the network plans to re-clear rights from those episodes and air them, alongside the new episodes, next fall.
"Inside the Actors Studio" was the last holdover on Bravo from the channel's earlier focus on the fine arts - essentially, how Ovation now markets itself. When "Inside the Actors Studio" launched in 1994, Bravo called itself "The Film and Arts Network."
James Lipton
No Statehood
Puerto Rico
President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Dog Whistle) on Monday declared himself an "absolute no" on statehood for Puerto Rico as long as critics such as San Juan's mayor remain in office, the latest broadside in his feud with members of the U.S. territory's leadership.
Trump lobbed fresh broadsides at San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, a critic of his administration's response to hurricanes on the island last year, during a radio interview with Fox "News'' Geraldo Rivera (R-Serial Philanderer) that aired Monday.
Trump said that when "you have good leadership," statehood for Puerto Rico could be "something they talk about. With people like that involved in Puerto Rico, I would be an absolute no."
Gov. Ricardo Rossello, an advocate of statehood for the island, said Trump's remarks had trivialized the statehood process because of political differences.
"The president said he is not in favor of statehood for the people of Puerto Rico based on a personal feud with a local mayor. This is an insensitive, disrespectful comment to over 3 million Americans who live in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico," Rossello said.
Puerto Rico
Mel Gibson to Write & Direct Remake
'The Wild Bunch'
Mel Gibson (R-Sugar Tits) is coming on to write and direct a remake of the classic Sam Peckinpah western "The Wild Bunch" at Warner Bros.
Gibson will co-write with Bryan Bagby and also exec produce the pic.
The project is based on the classic Peckinpah film that follows an aging group of outlaws look for one last big score even as what they viewed as the wild west is slowly passing them by. The pic had an all-star cast that included William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sanchez and Ben Johnson.
Project marks the first directing gig for Gibson since 2016's "Hacksaw Ridge," which earned him an Oscar nomination as director.
WB has been trying to get the reboot off the ground for years and at one point had Will Smith interested in starring. As for when Gibson will shoot "The Wild Bunch" remains a mystery. He's also trying to get his World War II film "Destroyer" into production. That film, with Mark Wahlberg attached to star, is currently looking for financing.
'The Wild Bunch'
Hissing, Bubbling Lake
Alaska
Katey Walter Anthony has studied some 300 lakes across the tundras of the Arctic. But sitting on the mucky shore of her latest discovery, the Arctic expert said she'd never seen a lake like this one.
Set against the austere peaks of the western Brooks Range, the lake, about 20 football fields in size, looked like it was boiling. Its waters hissed, bubbled and popped as a powerful greenhouse gas escaped from the lake bed. Some bubbles grew as big as grapefruits, visibly lifting the water's surface several inches and carrying up bits of mud from below.
This was methane.
As the permafrost thaws across the fast-warming Arctic, it releases carbon dioxide, the top planet-warming greenhouse gas, from the soil into the air. Sometimes, that thaw spurs the growth of lakes in the soft, sunken ground, and these deep-thawing bodies of water tend to unleash the harder-hitting methane gas.
The first time Walter Anthony saw Esieh Lake, she was afraid it might explode - and she is no stranger to the danger, or the theatrics, of methane. In 2010, the University of Alaska Fairbanks posted a video of the media-savvy ecologist standing on the frozen surface of an Arctic lake, then lighting a methane stream on fire to create a tower of flame as tall as she is. It got nearly half a million views on YouTube.
Alaska
Wobbles As It Spins
Planet Earth
Humans are responsible for some of the wobble in Earth's spin.
Since 1899, the Earth's axis of spin has shifted about 34 feet (10.5 meters). Now, research quantifies the reasons why and finds that a third is due to melting ice and rising sea levels, particularly in Greenland - placing the blame on the doorstep of anthropogenic climate change.
Another third of the wobble is due to land masses expanding upward as the glaciers retreat and lighten their load. The final portion is the fault of the slow churn of the mantle, the viscous middle layer of the planet.
Scientists have long known that the distribution of mass around the Earth determines its spin, much like how the shape and weight distribution of a spinning top determines how it moves. Also, Earth's spin isn't perfectly even, as scientists know thanks to slight wiggles in the movements of the stars across the night sky that have been recorded for thousands of years, said Erik Ivins, a study co-author and a senior research scientist at JPL. Since the 1990s, space-based measurements have also confirmed that the Earth's axis of rotation drifts by a few centimeters a year, generally toward Hudson Bay in northeastern Canada.
Researchers knew that a proportion of this wobble was caused by glacial isostatic adjustment, an ongoing process since the end of the last ice age 16,000 years ago. As the glaciers retreat, they relieve the land underneath of their mass. Gradually, over thousands of years, the land responds to this relief by rising like bread dough. (In some places on the edges of the ancient ice sheets, the land might also collapse because the ice had forced it to bulge upward.)
Planet Earth
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