• African-American writer Walter Dean Myers once was shipped to the Arctic because he was a member of a basketball team. While in the United States Army, Mr. Myers had starred on a very good intramural team. During a tournament, Mr. Myers’ colonel bragged about how good the team was, and he bet quite a lot of money that the team would win. Unfortunately, the team lost the championship game and to get revenge, the colonel shipped the losing players to bases in the Arctic. In Mr. Myers’ case, however, the attempt at revenge backfired. Mr. Myers loved the Arctic and said it was “fantastic.” Later, Mr. Myers became an award-winning author of such children’s books as Hoops.
• A couple of screenplay writers rented a house with the proviso that the landlord would redecorate the house. Time passed, and it became apparent that the landlord was not going to keep his promise. Therefore, the writers saw a lawyer, who drew up an agreement in which the landlord allowed the writers to redecorate the house any way they liked as long as they paid for the redecorating. Just before the writers moved out of the house, they painted every wall, every ceiling, and every floor — black.
Satire
• After William F. Buckley, Jr., wrote a memoir titled Overdrive, University of Chicago student David Brooks satirized him for the college newspaper. Because Mr. Buckley was widely important and knew everybody and had an ego, Mr. Brooks wrote that Mr. Buckley had written three volumes of memoirs before he had begun to talk: 1) The World Before Buckley “traced the history of the world prior to his conception,” 2) The Seeds of Utopia “outlined his effect on world events during the nine months of his gestation,” and 3) The Glorious Dawn“ described the profound ramifications of his birth on the social order.” And so the satire continued, including Mr. Buckley becoming popular at school because he could turn water into wine. Soon afterward, Mr. Buckley gave a lecture at the University of Chicago, and at the end of the lecture he said, “David Brooks, if you’re in the audience, I’d like to offer you a job.” This was, of course, Mr. Brooks’ big break, and he ended up working at Mr. Buckley’s conservative magazine The National Review, where he learned much about writing from Mr. Buckley, who would often cover Mr. Brooks’ short editorials with red ink, and who would occasionally write on an egregiously bad piece of writing, “Come on, David!”
• Good satire often appears where you don’t expect it, and why not — satirists are highly intelligent people who sense opportunities that ordinary people don’t recognize. For example, many odd items appear for sale at , including skinned rabbit carcasses. Immediately, satirists started writing customer comments: “Nothing says ‘EAT ME’ like a picture of a skinned rabbit carcass!” and “I bought this thinking it would make a wonderful gift for my neighbor’s young son. Ordering was simple, and delivery was flawless. So you can imagine the shock and awe not only on my face, but also my neighbor’s three-year-old son, when he opened the package to find a DEAD rabbit.” The < amazon.com > page selling uranium ore provoked this comment: “My wife and I purchased this product for the express purpose of breeding an atomic superman. After a daily regimen of ingesting a tablespoon of this powder mixed with green tea along with her prenatal vitamins, my wife developed serious morning sickness and perished during childbirth.”
What musical instrument, typically housed in the bell tower (belfry) of a church or municipal building, consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells?
The California gull (Larus californicus), or seagull, is a medium-sized gull, smaller on average than the herring gull but larger on average than the ring-billed gull, though it may overlap in size greatly with both.
This is the state bird of Utah, remembered for assisting Mormon settlers in dealing with a plague of Mormon crickets. A monument in Salt Lake City commemorates this event, known as the "Miracle of the Gulls".
Source
Mark. was first, and correct, with:
Utah.
Alan J answered:
Utah.
Randall wrote:
UTAH
Jacqueline said:
Utah
zorch replied:
Utah.
Mac Mac responded:
Utah
Cal in Vermont said:
Utah.
Deborah, the Master Gardener wrote:
I typed a couple words into the search engine — not even the entire question — and up popped Utah. So that has to be right: The California Gull is the state bird of Utah. That’s pretty funny, when you think about it.
NorCal’s version of Santa Ana winds started blowing last night and it’s really gusty outside. It’s a good day to decorate indoors and hope no fires start. Appendages crossed.
Daniel in The City responded:
Utah (because of the Great Salt Lake)
Jim from CA, retired to ID, replied:
Utah
Ed K said:
Yeah, it's Utah for some reason.
Here's a pic of my buddy Bid Dave, a larger Western Gull, where he belongs, on my deck next to the Pacific.
Billy in Cypress answered:
Utah
Joe ( -- Vote Blue, No Matter Who -- ) wrote:
Utah. I remember reading about this a long time ago. Had to do with Mormons.
mj took the day off.
Dave took the day off.
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame took the day off.
Roy, your Libtard, Snowflake friend isolating in Tyler, TX took the day off.
Michelle in AZ took the day off.
Rosemary in Columbus took the day off.
Dave in Tucson took the day off.
Jon L took the day off.
Stephen F took the day off.
John I from Hawai`i took the day off.
DJ Useo took the day off.
Kevin K. in Washington DC took the day off.
Leo in Boise took the day off.
David of Moon Valley took the day off.
Doug in Albuquerque, New Mexico, took the day off.
-pgw took the day off.
Kenn B took the day off.
Micki took the day off.
Angelo D took the day off.
Harry M. took the day off.
George M. took the day off.
Gary K took the day off.
Roy the (now retired) hoghead (aka 'hoghed') ( Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. ~Frank Zappa ) took the day off.
Saskplanner took the day off.
Gateway Mike took the day off.
Steve in Wonderful Sacramento, CA, took the day off.
MarilynofTC took the day off.
Paul of Seattle took the day off.
Brian S. took the day off.
Gene took the day off.
Tony K. took the day off.
Noel S. took the day off.
James of Alhambra took the day off.
BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
Artist Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Info:
“Nomeansno is a Canadian punk rock band originally from Victoria, now located in Vancouver. Formed in 1979 by brothers Rob & John Wright, their name derives from an anti-date rape slogan. The press described their earliest work as ‘Devo on a jazz trip, Motörhead after art school, or Wire on psychotic steroids.’ They are credited with being an influence on, or maybe the genesis of math rock.”
“The second album from this one-off project. This time, Johnny Hanson sings about beer, girls and hockey. Wait a second, that's the same formula from the first album! Who do these guys think they're fooling?
“The Hanson Brothers are a Canadian ‘puck rock’ band formed in 1984 and featuring various and random members of NoMeansNo (Rob and John Wright being the consistent members). SUDDEN DEATH was originally released on Virgin Canada and has now been remastered and remixed by the band (including the critical restoration of many ones-two-threes and a couple of fours) for reissue.
“SUDDEN DEATH will surely bring back memories of old-time hockey when overtime meant glory, not shootouts.
“For fans of: Hockey and The Ramones.”
Price: $1 (USD) for track; $9 (USD) for 15-track album
Frankie, the male shitten, has appointed himself mayor of the bathroom.
Tonight, Tuesday:
CBS begins the night with a FRESH'NCIS', followed by a FRESH'FBI', then a FRESH'FBI: Most Wanted'.
Scheduled on a FRESHStephen Colbert are John Dickerson, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and Greta Van Fleet.
Scheduled on a FRESHJames Corden, OBE, are Meryl Streep and Billy Eichner.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'The Voice', followed by a FRESH'Transplant'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Taraji P. Henson, Chloe Fineman, and Finneas.
Scheduled on a FRESHSeth Meyers are Jimmy Fallon, Joe Manganiello, and Kaz Rodriguez.
On a RERUNLilly Singh (from 11/5/19) are Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'The Bachelorette', followed by a FRESH'Big Sky'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Tim Allen, Stacey Abrams, and Ari Lennox.
The CW offers a RERUN'Swamp Thing', followed by a RERUN'Tell Me A Story'.
Faux fills the night with LIVE'Tuesday Night Football', then pads the left coast with local crap.
MY recycles an old 'Chicago PD', followed by another old 'Chicago PD'.
AMC offers the movie 'Scrooged', followed by the movie 'Elf', then the movie 'The Polar Express'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - THE DIE IS CAST
[7:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - EXPLORERS
[8:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - FAMILY BUSINESS
[9:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - SHAKAAR
[10:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - FACETS
[11:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - THE ADVERSARY
[12:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION -
[1:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SCHISMS
[2:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - TRUE Q
[3:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - RASCALS
[4:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - A FISTFUL OF DATAS
[5:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - THE QUALITY OF LIFE
[6:00PM] THE OUTSIDERS
[8:00PM] FOOTLOOSE
[10:30PM] GHOST
[1:30AM] FOOTLOOSE
[4:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - RELICS
[5:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SCHISMS (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has 3 hours of old 'Chrisley Knows Best', followed by a FRESH'Don't Be Tardy ...', then a FRESH'Watch What Happens: Live'.
Comedy Central has 2 hours of old 'The Office', followed by 2 hours of old 'Drunk History'.
Scheduled on a FRESHThe Daily Show it's TBA.
FX has the movie 'BlacKkKlansman', followed by the movie 'Transformers: The Last Knight'.
History has 'The Curse Of Oak Island', followed by the FRESH'The Curse Of Oak Island: Digging Deeper', then a FRESH'The Curse Of Oak Island', followed by the FRESH'Beyond Oak Island'.
IFC -
[6:00am] Parks And Recreation
[6:30am] Cult Of Chucky
[8:30am] Curse Of Chucky
[10:30am] Seed Of Chucky
[12:30pm] Bride Of Chucky
[2:30pm] Carrie
[4:45pm] The Devil's Rejects
[7:15pm] The Exorcist
[10:00pm] Underworld: Evolution
[12:30am] Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans
[2:30am] Underworld
[5:00am] Bride Of Chucky (ALL TIMES ET)
Sundance -
[6:15am - 9:45am] gomer pyle, u.s.m.c.
[10:15am - 1:15pm] hogan's heroes
[1:45pm] yours, mine & ours
[3:45pm] planes, trains and automobiles
[5:45pm] tommy boy
[8:00pm] my cousin vinny
[10:30pm] my cousin vinny
[1:00am] columbo
[3:15am] columbo
[5:30am] the andy griffith show (ALL TIMES ET)
SyFy has the movie 'Vampire Academy', followed by the movie 'Red 2', then the movie 'Death Wish'.
Neil Young on Monday ended his lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump (R-Corrupt)'s campaign for playing of two of his songs at campaign rallies without permission.
Young had sued the campaign in August for copyright infringement over its alleged unlicensed playing of "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Devil's Sidewalk" numerous times at rallies and political events.
His lawyers said at the time that while voters could support the candidate of their choice, the now 75-year-old Young did not want his music "used as a 'theme song' for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate."
Young's lawsuit in Manhattan federal court was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again. It was not immediately clear if the case had been settled.
To many music lovers, Bob Dylan’s songbook is priceless. Well, now he’s put a price on it.
The Nobel Prize-winning songwriter has sold publishing rights to his catalog of more than 600 songs, one of the greatest treasures in popular music, to the Universal Music Publishing Group, it was announced on Monday.
His collection includes modern standards like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Tangled Up in Blue” and “Like a Rolling Stone” through to this year’s 17-minute opus on the Kennedy assassination, “Murder Most Foul.” The body of work may only be matched for its breadth and influence by the Beatles, whose songs were re-acquired by Paul McCartney in 2017.
The price was not disclosed, but industry experts have suggested the sale is in the range of $300 million to a half-billion dollars.
The sale gives Universal the right, in perpetuity, to lease use of Dylan’s compositions to advertisers and movie, television or video game producers, or anyone who thinks his words and melodies could enhance their product.
Cast members from the Star Trek series will hold a fundraiser for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, the two Georgia U.S. Senate candidates seeking to unseat the incumbents and flip the chamber to the Democrats.
Stacey Abrams, a professed fan of the series, will also participate in the virtual event, to be held on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.
Those scheduled to participate include Alison Pill, Anthony Rapp, Brent Spiner, Evan Evagora, Gates McFadden, George Takei, Isa Briones, Jeri Ryan, Jonathan Del Arco, Jonathan Frakes, Kate Mulgrew, LeVar Burton, Marina Sirtis, Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, Sonequa Martin-Green, Wil Wheaton and Wilson Cruz.
Tickets start at $5 per person, at the “Tribble” level, and rise to $500 per person at the “Vulcan” level. Proceeds go to the Georgia Senate Victory Fund.
Netflix has pulled the curtain back on its first project with Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones since Deadline revealed in July that it had invested their production outfit Broke And Bones.
After Brooker teased the comedy event special last Friday in a 10-second trailer and one of the stars of the show, Hugh Grant, let slip some of the details, we can reveal that spoof documentary Death To 2020 will juxtapose footage of real-life events this year with fictitious “renowned” experts passing comment on what took place.
Grant told New York magazine last week that he will play a “repellent” historian in the special, while Deadline can now bring you news of several other big names joining the cast.
Pulp Fiction’s Samuel L. Jackson, Friends star Lisa Kudrow, and Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones will be among those casting an eye over 2020 in character. Stranger Things star Joe Keery, Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani, Golden Globe-winner Tracey Ullman, How I Met Your Mother actress Cristin Milioti, and Truth Seekers star Samson Kayo will also feature.
President Donald Trump (R-Unamerican) is planning a spectacular, made-for-TV exit from the White House in a bid to steal viewers from President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, Axios reported on Sunday, citing sources familiar with the talks.
According to the report, one scenario being discussed is Trump boycotting Biden's inauguration - in a break with America's democratic traditions - and attending a rally in Florida.
Under that plan, the report said, Trump would leave the White House on January 20 in Marine One, then take Air Force One to Florida, where he would address supporters at a rally timed to coincide with Biden's socially distanced inauguration outside the US Capitol.
Since losing the election, Trump has ignored numerous traditions designed to ensure a peaceful transfer of power and show the stability of American democracy.
A man who claims to have found the elusive treasure belonging to eccentric collector Forrest Fenn has just revealed in his identity in an online post.
The finder identified himself Monday in a post on Medium as Jack Stuef and said he searched for two years before finding it in June in Wyoming — where Forrest hid it ten years ago. Fenn confirmed its discovery and died months later at the age of 90.
Stuef said he remained anonymous because he did not want his family to endure the "stalkers, death treats, home invasions, frivolous lawsuits and a potential kidnapping" that Fenn's family did.
He said he was prompted to reveal his name after a U.S. District Court in New Mexico ruling last month that means the Fenn estate must provide Stuef's name and address in a lawsuit brought on by plaintiff Barbara Andersen, a Chicago-based lawyer who spent thousands of dollars trying to find the treasure and claims her emails containing her progress in the search for the treasure were "hacked."
The treasure is a bronze chest filled with gold, jewels, and other valuables worth more than $1 million. It was hidden a decade ago somewhere in the Rocky Mountain wilderness. Stuef said he would never reveal the exact location of the treasure, saying "the natural wonder of place that Forrest held so dear will be destroyed by people seeking treasure they hope I dropped on my way out or Forrest on his way in."
Of over a dozen new stamps that will be issued next year, one will celebrate the Chinese American nuclear physicist Chien-Shiung Wu, and another will honor Japanese Americans who fought in World War II. The Postal Service will also continue its Lunar New Year series with a Year of the Ox stamp, it said last month.
Wu, who was born in China in 1912, was one of the top physicists of the 20th century, at a time when the field was dominated by men. She immigrated to the U.S., received her doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, and spent much of her career teaching at Columbia University.
A granddaughter, Jada Yuan, a reporter for The Washington Post, said Wu would have been happy to be remembered this way, especially amid a surge in anti-Asian racism this year.
"She would've been upset with the terminology 'China virus' and the rising violence against Asian Americans due to xenophobia," Yuan said. "So it's great that an agency like the post office has decided to celebrate her and Asian American culture in a positive way."
"My grandma always threw a New Year party in New York City. She loved a good banquet," she said. "That's why I am also proud to work in alliance with the post office, an agency that was maligned and had to pull off some heroic work of their own this year."
Giant pandas have been observed to not just roll around in horse manure, but to actively smear it on themselves. Professor Fuwen Wei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences wondered why. Was it to mask their scent from predators? Some sort of camouflage? Just pandas' innate playfulness taking them somewhere stupid, again?
In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Wei and co-authors note that mammals are seldom attracted to feces. While some insects feed on vertebrates' waste or lay their eggs there, mammals usually show aversion, perhaps to limit parasite infections. Indeed, the effect is so powerful that small mammals lose body mass when exposed to the feces of predators. Pandas' status as exceptions makes their behavior intriguing.
For 10 years, Wei's team observed wild pandas in Qinling. They describe four responses to encountering horse droppings – carefully sniffing, rubbing the manure with their cheek, rolling in the stuff, and smearing it all over their bodies. Cameras recorded 38 events in just a one year period.
Crucially, the behavior, which the authors named horse manure rolling (HMR), turned out to be highly weather dependent. HMR only happened from November to April (including, but much longer than, pandas' brief mating season). Almost all events were in temperatures below 15º C (59º F), and most happened near freezing.
Wei also observed pandas like their horse dung fresh. He identified scents in fresh horse manure that decline quickly, sprayed them on hay, and watched panda reactions. Pandas proved attracted to the related chemicals beta-caryophyllene (BCP) and caryophyllene oxide (BCPO).
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has returned to semi-retired status.
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