Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Ruth Walker: My bizarre experience becoming a 'naturalized' American citizen (Guardian)
I was excited to become a US citizen. That quickly dissipated during the ceremony, which felt like a middle school graduation.
Victoria Coren Mitchell: Christmas in the clink? But I'm no cocaine fiend (Guardian)
I'm just a square girl with an inhaler who tried cocaine once, so I hope the Mail doesn't make the police come knocking.
John Patterson: Spike Jonze on Jackass, Scarlett Johansson's erotic voice and techno love (Guardian)
The director's offbeat love story Her - about a man who falls in love with his computer operating system - is tipped for Oscar triumph. As he prepares his final cut, he talks exclusively about its stars, the past and the future.
Xan Brooks: "Bruce Dern: black and white and all colour in Alexander Payne's Nebraska" (Guardian)
The veteran actor may not be sure where Bristol is, but he does recall racing a shepherd through the Lake District and being Alfred Hitchcock's 'golden calf.'
Caroline Sullivan: "Mary J Blige: 'Whitney Houston's funeral freaked me out'" (Guardian)
The queen of hip-hop soul on giving up alcohol, getting fit and cutting out the drama in her life.
Dorian Lynskey: "Lee Hazlewood: the wayward guru of cowboy psychedelia" (Guardian)
Best known for reviving Nancy Sinatra's career with These Boots Are Made for Walkin', Lee Hazlewood was a highly unorthodox record producer. An epic box set collects his forgotten songs.
J. Wisniewski: 5 Amazing Pieces of Good News Nobody Is Reporting (Cracked)
So we know it's hard to see it in the daily wash of awful headlines and celebrity scandals, but it's undeniable: We're slowly getting this "civilization" thing figured out.
This Year's Biggest Discoveries in Science (National Geographic)
From the edge of the solar wind to ancient human DNA, science made big strides in 2013.
Peanuts Christmas Dance in NYC (YouTube)
What happens when you bring the iconic dance scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas to life? We surprised New Yorkers with a flash mob of nostalgia to find out.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Christmas (Athens News)
An employee at a Kmart in Plainfield Township, Michigan, called Roberta Carter with good news: A Good Samaritan had paid $59.60 of her $60 layaway. Ms. Carter, who has eight children, said, "My kids will have clothes for Christmas."
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
wrote:
answered:
responded:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
BadtotheboneBob
Chestnuts
Yes, We Grow Chestnuts here...
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and summery.
Royal Pardon
Alan Turing
Mathematician Alan Turing, who helped Britain win World War Two by cracking Nazi Germany's "unbreakable" Enigma code, was granted a rare royal pardon on Tuesday for a criminal conviction for homosexuality that led to his suicide.
Turing's electromechanical machine, a forerunner of modern computers, unraveled the code used by German U-boats in the Atlantic. His work at Bletchley Park, Britain's wartime codebreaking centre, was credited with shortening the war.
However, he was stripped of his job and chemically castrated with injections of female hormones after being convicted of gross indecency in 1952 for having sex with a man. Homosexual sex was illegal in Britain until 1967.
Turing killed himself in 1954, aged 41, with cyanide.
Cosmologist Stephen Hawking and 10 other eminent scientists had campaigned for years for "one of the most brilliant mathematicians of the modern era" to be pardoned.
One of those scientists, Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, said, "The persecution of this great British scientist over his sexuality was tragic and I'm delighted that we can now focus solely on celebrating his legacy."
Alan Turing
Released From Prison
Pussy Riot
The last two imprisoned members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot walked free Monday, criticizing the amnesty measure that released them as a publicity stunt, with one calling for a boycott of the Winter Olympics to protest Russia's human rights record.
Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were granted amnesty last week in a move largely viewed as the Kremlin's attempt to soothe criticism of Russia's human rights record before the Sochi Games in February.
Tolokonnikova walked out of a prison in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk on Monday, smiling to reporters and flashing a V sign.
Alekhina, who was released earlier on Monday from a prison outside Nizhny Novgorod, said she would have stayed behind bars to serve her term if she had been allowed.
"If I had a chance to turn it down, I would have done it, no doubt about that," she told Dozhd TV. "This is not an amnesty. This is a hoax and a PR move."
Pussy Riot
Invited to Rejoin Santana
Marcus Malone
Marcus Malone, or "Marcus the Magnificent," played drums for Carlos Santana's band in the 60's, adding an African rhythm to what made the band's Latin fusion so special. In 1969, just before the band's explosion of popularity at Woodstock, Malone went to San Quentin Prison, never to rejoin the band. He has had a hard life ever since. Reporter Stanley Roberts found him living on the streets of Oakland, and at first was skeptical of his claim to fame. When Santana saw the report, however, he knew it was legitimate. Santana got in touch with Roberts, and the two found Malone. All that was left was the touching reunion between the two former bandmates. They exchange a hug, with Malone saying, "you don't know how hard I prayed to get to see you."
The video of their reunion now has more than 230,000 views, and commenters are loving it. One wrote, "This is touching. That smile on his face was real. Real from the heart." Some were suspicious, though, about what exactly a reunion is worth. Luckily, Santana is taking his desire to reunite with Malone a step further. He told CNN that he is planning on buying Malone new clothes, and putting him in an apartment to get him off the streets. He's also invited Marcus the Magnificent to join he and the original band again to record music. They have even written a song for him. It will most likely be music to his ears.
Marcus Malone
Wedding News
Casteen - Jones
Dot-Marie Jones is married! The actress, who plays Coach Shannon Beiste on "Glee," tied the knot with girlfriend Bridgett Casteen on Saturday, according to People.
The couple, who has been together for three years, exchanged vows in front of friends during a holiday party/surprise wedding at their home in Los Angeles, according to the mag.
Dot-Marie, 49, proposed to Bridgett at Disneyland in October, during the theme park's Gay Days Anaheim celebration.
Bridgett announced the engagement on Twitter at the time, Tweeting, "Thank you @dotmariejones for making me the happiest woman in the world. #engaged"
Casteen - Jones
Top Entertainer
Netflix
The battle for AP entertainer of the year came down to the Girl on Fire and the Queen of Twerk.
Jennifer Lawrence edged out Miley Cyrus by one vote in The Associated Press' annual survey of its newspaper and broadcast members and subscribers for Entertainer of the Year.
There were 70 ballots submitted by U.S. editors and news directors. Voters were asked to consider who had the most influence on entertainment and culture in 2013.
Lawrence won 15 votes. Cyrus had 14. Netflix was a close third, earning 13 votes for altering the TV landscape with its on-demand format and hit original series.
But Lawrence - who started the year with an Academy Award for best actress, fueled a box-office franchise as "The Hunger Games" heroine Katniss Everdeen, and wrapped 2013 with a critically acclaimed performance in "American Hustle" that just earned Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations - charmed fans everywhere with her candid sincerity.
Netflix
Ringing The Bells A Fading Tradition
Bethlehem
A Palestinian college student is one of the last keepers of a fading tradition - ringing the bells of Bethlehem.
Twice a week, Khadir Jaraiseh climbs to the roof of the Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born. He pulls the ropes of four bells in a rooftop tower for a total of 33 times to symbolize the number of years Jesus was believed to have lived.
Jaraiseh rings the bells for prayer services of the Armenian Apostolic Church, one of three denominations that administer the basilica, one of Christianity's holiest shrines. The Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox denominations at the Nativity church - each of which has its own set of bells - have switched to automatic bell-ringing.
But there's something special about the traditional approach, said Jaraiseh, who uses both hands and a floor pedal to pull the ropes.
Jaraiseh rings the bells two days a week and an older colleague covers the remaining five days. During the Christmas season, his task is particularly enjoyable, he said.
Bethlehem
Virus Along U.S. East Coast
Bottlenose Dolphins
More than 1,000 migratory bottlenose dolphins have died from a measles-like virus along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard in 2013 and the epidemic shows no sign of abating, a marine biologist said on Monday.
The death toll exceeds the 740 dolphins killed during the last big outbreak of the then-unknown virus in 1987-88.
An estimated 39,206 bottlenose dolphins populated the eastern seaboard, to a depth of 25 feet, from New Jersey to Central Florida in 2010, according to the latest NOAA census.
Scientists are trying to determine why the morbillivirus resurged this year. The dolphins, which migrate south for the winter, have been stranded or found dead on beaches from New York to Florida since June, Fougeres said.
Bottlenose Dolphins
Closes After 75 Years
Hollywood Park
Hollywood Park, once America's most famous horse racing showplace with legendary moviemakers and film stars among its patrons, closed Sunday after 75 years with a final slate of 11 races.
Such equine icons as Seabiscuit, Citation, Affirmed, John Henry and Zenyatta competed at the impressive venue in suburban Inglewood, which opened on June 10, 1938.
Film industry legends were among 600 shareholders who founded the track to attract the rich and famous, including Bing Crosby, Walt Disney, Al Jolson, Warner brothers studio's Jack Warner, MGM's Sam Goldwyn and noted producers Darryl Zanuck and Mervyn LeRoy.
But as cinematic generations changed, so too did the fortunes of US horse racing, with simulcast betting and more wagers being done through the Internet helping reduce live attendance at tracks.
A real estate development is planned on the site of a track where Cary Grant once strolled with starlets and famed comedians once enjoyed their leisure hours, a place where only nostalgia remains.
Hollywood Park
Holiday Exhibits
Vegas
Las Vegas has mostly shelved its attempt to rebrand itself as a family-friendly wonderland. But there's one exception: the dreaded holiday season, when visitor numbers crater and room vacancies soar.
In an attempt to lure tourists, Las Vegas casinos are staging increasingly elaborate holiday events.
The Bellagio has again transformed its conservatory into a faux winter wonderland featuring a 42-foot-tall Christmas tree, a life-sized candy house, a walk-through snow globe and topiary polar bears, all a few paces from the gambling floor.
The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace is showing its Christmas cheer with "Elf Aquarists," divers in elf-style wet suits who feed the aquarium's tropical fish during daily shows.
Perhaps the most elaborate of all the exhibits is "Winter in Venice" at the Venetian, which the casino advertises as a public gift in banners strung outside its ersatz Italian facade.
Vegas
In Memory
Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Russian designer of the AK-47 assault rifle which has killed more people than any other firearm in the world, died on Monday aged 94, officials said.
Kalashnikov, who was in his 20s when he created the AK-47, died in his home city of Izhevsk near the Ural Mountains, where his gun is still made, a spokesman for the Udmurtia province's president said on state television.
No cause of death was given. Kalashnikov was fitted with a pacemaker at a Moscow hospital in June and had been in hospital in Izhevsk since November 17, state media reported.
A son of Siberian peasants who never finished school, Kalashnikov invented one of the Soviet Union's best-known and most imitated products.
Shortly after fighting in World War Two, he created the AK-47, whose number stands for the year 1947. The "A" is for "avtomat" - automatic rifle - and the "K" for Kalashnikov.
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov was born on November 10, 1919 - during the civil war that followed the Bolshevik Revolution - into a large peasant family in the village of Kurya in the remote Altai region of southern Siberia.
In the West, his invention might have made him a millionaire. In Russia, despite all the Kremlin plaudits and decorations, he was not a rich man and lived in a modest Soviet-era apartment in Izhevsk.
After meeting M-16 designer Eugene Stoner in the 1990s, Kalashnikov said the American was flying his own plane, while he could barely afford the ticket from Izhevsk to Moscow.
Mikhail Kalashnikov
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
