from Bruce
Anecdotes
Science and Scientists
• Edward Hitchcock was the first American to study dinosaur fossils, although he did not realize what the fossils were — the study of dinosaurs was still in its infancy then. Even as a teenager, Mr. Hitchcock demonstrated his high intelligence. A publisher once offered a prize to anyone who discovered any mathematical errors in a new nautical almanac. After young Mr. Hitchcock discovered 80 errors in the almanac, the publisher withdrew the offer of the prize.
• When astronomer Carl Sagan was a boy, he went to the library and asked for a book about stars — the librarian handed him a book about movie stars. After young Carl had explained what he wanted in more detail, the librarian showed him the library section devoted to astronomy.
Television
• The Simpsons live in Springfield, but in what state? Springfield, Ohio? Springfield, Oregon? Springfield, Massachusetts? Springfield, wherever? In one episode, Marge is talking on the telephone and saying where she lives when Homer walks in: “Springfield, Oh hi ya, Homer.” In the May 2012 issue of Smithsonian Magazine, Simpsons creators Matt Groening talked about the Simpsons’ Springfield: “Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon. The only reason is that when I was a kid, the TV show Father Knows Best took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown. When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, ‘This will be cool; everyone will think it’s their Springfield.’ And they do.” Over the years, he has been kind to people who want to believe that Springfield is in their state. He said, “I don’t want to ruin it for people, you know? Whenever people say it’s Springfield, Ohio, or Springfield, Massachusetts, or Springfield, wherever, I always go, ‘Yup, that’s right.’”
• The Star Trek actors who played James Tiberius Kirk and Mister Spock, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, are both Jewish. In fact, the famous Vulcan hand greeting with thumb stretched wide, the index and middle fingers together, and the ring and pinkie fingers together, comes from a priestly blessing of ancient Jerusalem and is still used in some present-day Jewish congregations.
• While on The Tonight Show, starring Johnny Carson, fashion designer Oleg Cassini described one of his dresses in this way: “This is a lovely hostess dinner dress with a very low neckline for easy entertaining.” By the way, when Johnny Carson learned that one of his TV guests had had twins, he said, “That’s about the greatest labor-saving device in the world.”
• Comedian Lucille Ball once appeared on an TV show called The Virginia Graham Show. A second guest was a magician who used balls in his sleight-of-hand tricks. While demonstrating his tricks, he asked Lucy, “You think I have two balls?” Lucy replied, “I hope so.”
Theater
• My Fair Lady was a major hit on Broadway and tickets were very difficult to buy. One lady and her husband showed up at the ticket office and were forced to admit that they had mislaid their tickets; however, they did have the stub of the check which they had used to pay for the tickets, and they did have the numbers of the tickets written down on the check stubs. The theater manager showed the couple to the orchestra stall, where they discovered their next-door neighbors sitting in the seats they had purchased tickets for. Astonished, the woman asked, “How did you get those seats?” The next-door neighbors explained, “Your daughter sold the tickets to us.”
• As a young man, L. Frank Baum, who later wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, formed a Shakespearean troupe. One review of the troupe’s Hamlet stated, “The only successful performance occurred when the ghost of Hamlet’s father fell through a hole in the stage. The audience, which happened to be composed of oil workers, was so delighted that the unhappy ghost had to repeat the stunt five times.” By the way, on 16 June 1902, a theatrical version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz opened. In the beginning part of his performance as the Scarecrow, Fred Stone was required to sit on stage motionless on stage for 18 minutes.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Melancholia"
Album: INTO THE SUN
Artist: Steve Ashley
Artist Location: Adelaide, Australia
Info:
“Steve delivers soulful, cruisy, acoustic roots, with an alt-country twist. His well-crafted storytelling will take you on a journey exploring universal themes that resonate with us all. A seasoned performer, he continues to play a variety of venues and events - including festivals, wineries, restaurants, pubs, clubs and private functions across metro and regional South Australia. “
Price: $2 (AUS) for track; $10 (AUS) for 10-track album
Genre: Folk.
Links:
INTO THE SUN
Steve Ashley on Bandcamp
Steve Ashley and the Staccatos
Other Links:
Bruce’s Music Recommendations: FREE pdfs
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
The 'Other' One
Green Acres
(Click on any image for larger version)
Stephen F
Thanks, Stephen!
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Bizarre times...
The below is from BuzzFeed. This could only happen when misogynistic idiots put a serial Predator/Rapist in the White House:
Federal judges considered just how offensive, abusive, or even violent a president could be and have it considered part of their job under the law.
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast and looked like rain, but no rain.
Kennedy Center
David Letterman
David Letterman opened Sunday night’s Kennedy Center Honors by telling the audience in the Opera House, “Tonight, it is quite nice, very nice, to see the presidential box once again being occupied.”
The crowd cheered and then gave President Joe Biden a standing ovation, after which Letterman quipped, “The same with the Oval Office.”
The ceremony marked a return to the large-scale, lavish gala of tradition, as Covid-19 forced last year’s ceremony to be postponed and later scaled back. But it also was the return of the presidential seal of approval, after four years in which President Donald Trump did not attend or host a pre-ceremony reception at the White House.
Instead, Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted honorees Justino Diaz, Berry Gordy, Joni Mitchell, Bette Midler and Lorne Michaels for an event in the East Room before the ceremony. The president gave Michaels, the creator of Saturday Night Live, a little ribbing, “He’s trying out seven guys to play me.”
Then Biden introduced Steve Martin, sitting in the crowd, who quipped, “Do you want me to play you?”
David Letterman
Local Ceremonies
Nobel Prizes
Three 2021 Nobel Prize laureates said Monday that climate change is the biggest threat facing the world — yet they remain optimistic — as this year’s winners began receiving their awards at scaled-down local ceremonies adapted for pandemic times.
For a second year, COVID-19 has scuttled the traditional formal banquet in Stockholm attended by winners of the prizes in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature and economics, which were announced in October. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded separately in Oslo, Norway.
Literature laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah was first to get his prize in a lunchtime ceremony Monday at the Swedish ambassador’s grand Georgian residence in central London.
Italian physics laureate Giorgio Parisi was receiving his prize at a ceremony in Rome. U.S.-based physics laureate Syukuro Manabe, chemistry laureate David W.C. MacMillan and economic sciences laureate Joshua D. Angrist will be given their medals and diplomas in Washington.
MacMillan, German physics prize winner Klaus Hasselmann and economics prize winner Guido Imbens, who is Dutch but lives in the United States, had a joint virtual news conference Monday where they were asked what they consider the biggest problem facing humanity and what they worry about most. All three answered climate change, with Imbens calling it the world’s “overarching problem.”
Nobel Prizes
Dictionary.Com Word Of The Year
Allyship
Allyship, an old noun made new again, is Dictionary.com’s word of the year.
The look up site with 70 million monthly users took the unusual step of anointing a word it added just last month, though “allyship” first surfaced in the mid-1800s, said John Kelly, the site’s associate director of content and education.
The site offers two definitions for allyship: The role of a person who advocates for inclusion of a “marginalized or politicized group” in solidarity but not as a member, and the more traditional relationship of “persons, groups or nations associating and cooperating with one another for a common cause or purpose.”
The word is set apart from “alliance,” which Dictionary.com defines in one sense as a “merging of efforts or interests by persons, families, states or organizations.”
It’s the first definition that took off most recently in the mid-2000s and has continued to churn. Following the summer of 2020 and the death of George Floyd, white allies — and the word allyship — proliferated as racial justice demonstrations spread. Before that, straight allies joined the causes of LGBTQ oppression, discrimination and marginalization.
Allyship
Withdraws Grammy Nominations
Drake
Drake has asked the Recording Academy to withdraw his two nominations for the 2022 Grammy Awards.
The artist was nominated for best rap performance for his song “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Young Thug and Future, and best rap album for Certified Lover Boy.
A source close to the situation tells THR that the Recording Academy received a request from Drake and his management to remove his nominations from the final-round ballot. Variety was first to report the news.
His 2022 nominations are not visible on his artist page on the Grammys’ website. The Recording Academy also added the nomination changes to its list of updates.
Though it is unclear why the four-time Grammy winner and his management withdrew the nominations, the decision follows the artist speaking out against the Recording Academy following The Weeknd’s high-profile snubs last year.
Drake
Investigation Closed
Emmett Till
The U.S. "Justice" Department said Monday it is ending its investigation into the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, the Black teenager from Chicago who was abducted, tortured and killed after witnesses said he whistled at a white woman in Mississippi.
The announcement came after the head of the department's civil rights division and other officials met with several of Till's relatives.
Till's family members said they were disappointed there will continue to be no accountability for the infamous killing, with no charges being filed against Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman accused of lying about whether Till ever touched her.
The "Justice" Department reopened the investigation after a 2017 book quoted Donham as saying she lied when she claimed that 14-year-old Till grabbed her, whistled and made sexual advances while she was working in a store in the small community of Money. Relatives have publicly denied that Donham, who is in her 80s, recanted her allegations about Till.
Thelma Wright Edwards, one of Till's cousins, said she was heartbroken but not surprised that no new charges are being brought.
Emmett Till
Fighter Jet Training
Pa. Wilds
A proposal that would allow military planes to fly training missions less than a quarter-mile above a section of Pennsylvania prized for its preserved wilderness has left residents with more questions and concerns than answers.
The Maryland Air National Guard wants to lower the threshold for combat training flights to just 100 feet above ground level, sparking concerns that noise could cause tourism to decline, impact wild elk and bald eagles, and lower the quality of life for residents.
The proposal would lower the altitude limit for fighter jet training missions from 8,000 feet above sea level to 100 feet above ground — approximately the height of a 10-story building — over parts of Elk, Cameron, Clinton, McKean, Potter, and Tioga Counties.
The affected area is part of what’s known as the Pennsylvania Wilds, a rural region of the state that is home to state parks, wildlife including elk, and hundreds of miles of trails.
According to Jamie Flanders, airspace manager for the Air National Guard, planes already fly as low as 100 feet in the area. The change, he said, would allow for multi-direction training flights, as opposed to flights in one direction.
Pa. Wilds
Will Tell The Future
'Black Box'
At a distant end of the Earth – hidden somewhere on the remote Australian island of Tasmania – a strange structure is about to witness and record the end of the world as we know it.
The project, called Earth's Black Box, is a giant steel installation, soon to be filled with hard drives powered by solar panels, each of them documenting and preserving a stream of real-time scientific updates and analysis on the gloomiest issues the world faces.
Information related to climate change, species extinction, environmental pollution, and impacts on health will all be chronicled in the monolithic structure – so that if some future society might one day discover the archive, they'll be able to piece together what happened to our planet.
In a sense, the box, which evokes the brutalist design of Norway's famous 'Doomsday Vault', actually serves a somewhat complementary purpose.
While the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a fortress designed to protect a vital backup of the world's seeds in case the worst ever happens, Earth's Black Box is conceived as an ongoing record of the world's trajectory towards a dire predicament.
'Black Box'
Iron Age Longhouses
Gjellestad, Norway
Norwegian archaeologists said Monday they have found a cluster of longhouses, including one of the largest in Scandinavia, using ground-penetrating radar in the southeastern part of the country — in an area that researchers believe was a central place in the late Nordic Iron Age.
The longhouses — long and narrow, single-room buildings — were found in Gjellestad, 86 kilometers (53 miles) southeast of Oslo near where a Viking-era ship was found in 2018 close to the Swedish border.
The importance of Gjellestad during that time period wasn't immediately known. But the body, known by its Norwegian acronym NIKU, said it was working on finding that out.
This autumn, archaeologists covered 40 hectares (about 100 acres) south, east and north of were the Gjellestad ship was found with the radar system, and one of the next steps are archaeological excavations, NIKU said.
The surveys are the first part of a research project called “Viking Nativity: Gjellestad Across Borders” where archaeologists, historians and Viking age specialists have examined the development of the area during the Nordic Iron Age that began at around 500 B.C. and lasted until approximately A.D. 800 and the beginning of the Viking Age.
Gjellestad, Norway
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