from Bruce
Anecdotes
Language
• A boxer named Young Griffo hung out at a billiard parlor owned by New York Giants manager John McGraw and jockey Tod Sloan, where he was in the habit of asking everybody for loans. Once, he met an Englishman and asked for the loan of a buck. The Englishman asked, “How much is a buck?” Young Griffo replied, “Twenty dollars.”
• After retiring from pitching, Dizzy Dean became an announcer, despite his lack of knowledge of English grammar. Once he was accused of ruining the syntax of his young listeners. Mr. Dean asked, “Sin tax? What will those fellers in Washington think of next?”
Managers
• Casey Stengel used to try to get games called on account of darkness when his team was ahead late in a game. Often, he would light matches in the dugout as a hint to umpires that it was getting dark. In one game, his team was ahead, darkness was coming, but his pitcher was starting to tire. Mr. Stengel made several trips to the mound in an attempt to stall and force the umpires to call the game, but the umpires were wise to him and determined to give the other team a full inning. Finally, Mr. Stengel walked out to the mound — using a flashlight to light his way. The fans laughed, but the umpires threw him out of the game.
• Casey Stengel was managing the Brooklyn Dodgers when he decided to pull pitcher “Boom Boom” Beck. After a lengthy conference on the mound, during which Boom Boom protested against being pulled, Boom Boom angrily turned around and tried to throw the baseball over the right-field fence. The baseball didn’t quite make it and hit the fence. Dodger right fielder Hank Wilson had been daydreaming, and when he heard the baseball hit the fence, he thought play had resumed. Hank fielded the baseball, then threw it to second base to cut off the nonexistent runner.
• During his early days in show business, comedian Joe E. Brown had a chance to play for a baseball club. Because the club was just starting, he saw no reason not to ask for his favorite position, so he told the club manager he wanted to play second base and would not play shortstop or third base. This made the manager laugh because — as he pointed out to Mr. Brown — not only was he was the manager, but he also played second base.
Martial Arts
• Tajima wanted to achieve the highest level of skill in the martial arts. To achieve his goal, he sought a teacher, eventually choosing Kanjin, who reluctantly accepted him as a student, then put him to work doing the menial labor of a servant. For a long time, nothing happened, then as Tajima was gathering firewood, a blow from a stick crashed on his head. Looking behind him, Tajima saw his teacher, Kanjin. From then on, Kanjin made Tajima’s life miserable. Tajima never knew when his teacher would sneak up behind him and hit him with a stick. One day, Tajima saw his teacher bent over a pot, cooking rice. Thinking that this was the perfect opportunity for revenge, Tajima grabbed the teacher’s stick, snuck up behind Kanjin, then tried to hit him with as much force as he could. However, Kanjin whirled around and stopped the blow with the lid of the cooking pot. Tajima bowed to his teacher, then continued his studies. Eventually, Tajima learned to be constantly alert against surprise attacks.
• In the 1960s British tongue-in-cheek TV series The Avengers, Mrs. Cathy Gale, played by Honor Blackman, used judo to subdue her attackers. The use of judo came about through a process of elimination. The producers had already rejected the idea of Mrs. Gale screaming for help. At first, they had her reach into a handbag for a gun, but that grew tiresome. Then they tried having Mrs. Gale wear a gun in a garter holster, but it made her walk bowlegged. Next they tried concealing the gun in an under-arm holster, but tight sweaters are incompatible with concealed guns. Then came concealed daggers and short swords, but they kept cutting her bra straps. Finally, René Burdet, who had been the head of the Resistance in Marseilles during World War II, taught Ms. Blackman how to throw people. Later, both Ms. Blackman and Patrick Macnee, who played John Steed, learned judo from Douglas Robinson, a 9th Dan black belt.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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The Funniest People in Sports: 250 Anecdotes — Buy
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "I Wanna Be Your Addiction"
Album: SUPERFUZZ (OST)
Artist: The Boss Martians
Artist Location: Seattle, Washington
Record Company: Chaputa! Records
Info: This album has 26 tracks by various artists.
This album also includes “”Bubble Bath” by The Bambi Molesters.
“The Chaputa! Trademark is a positive guarantee that the record bearing it contains only fuzz, distortion, screams, wild beats and loud sounds, as performed by the best artists of this generation. That’s why, when you buy a Chaputa! record, you can be sure it contains only good fun! Please be sure that ‘CHAPUTA! RECORDS ARE GOOD RECORDS’ is our only credo and constant goal. Thank you, punk!”
“OST” means “Original Soundtrack.”
“The Boss Martians' style of '60s-influenced guitar pop was debuted in 1995 upon the release of their first self-titled full-length on Dionysus Records. Accompanied by an influence of Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Beach Boys, the Trashmen and the Astronauts, the Seattle natives also had the chance to scatter several singles throughout the years on various different labels before their second album, 13 EVIL TALES, came out in 1996. But it wasn't until 1998 that The Boss Martians had the chance to branch outside of America with a tour of Europe that summer. After 2000's MOVE, they signed with MuSick Recordings, releasing 2002's MAKING THE ROUNDS and 2004's THE SET-UP. ‘I Am Your Radio,’ from the latter album, won the listener-driven ‘Coolest Song of the Year’ contest on Little Steven's Underground Garage radio program.” — Biography by Mike DaRonco, allmusic.com
Price: €1 (EURO) for track; €10 (EURO) for 26-track album
Genre: Rock. Various.
Links:
SUPERFUZZ (OST)
Chaputa! Records on Bandcamp
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
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Bonus Links
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Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Gas is still $3.99/gal. at the no-name, cash preferred station.
Deepfake YouTuber Hired
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm has announced that YouTube deepfake creator, Shamook, has joined its visual effects division Industrial Light and Magic.
Shamook gained attention for using deepfake technology on footage of Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian.
When Luke Skywalker turned up in the season two finale of The Mandalorian, many fans criticised the de-aging technology used to make the character look younger.
In response, Shamook spent four days altering the footage to make Skywalker look more realistic.
In a statement regarding the hiring, Industrial Light and Magic said they are “always on the lookout for talented artists and have in fact hired the artist that goes by the online persona Shamook”.
Lucasfilm
Parkway Rest Stops
New Jersey
Some of New Jersey’s most iconic figures are getting their names on something other than awards or gold records: Garden State Parkway rest stops.
On Tuesday, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority approved naming nine Parkway service areas after luminaries from groundbreaking baseball player Larry Doby to rocker Jon Bon Jovi and late actor James Gandolfini.
It’s being done in conjunction with the New Jersey Hall of Fame, which has inducted more than 180 people since 2008 in fields such as science, sports and the arts.
The service areas will contain Hard Rock Cafe-style exhibits and artifacts, and an interactive Wall of Fame featuring a life-sized video monitor showcasing Hall of Fame inductees and their acceptance speeches, according to Gov. Phil Murphy’s office.
In addition to Gandolfini, star of HBO’s “Sopranos,” Doby and Bon Jovi, service areas will be named after broadcast journalist Connie Chung; Grammy-winning singer Whitney Houston; Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison; author Judy Blume; Cuban-American singer Celia Cruz and perhaps New Jersey’s most famous native son, Frank Sinatra.
New Jersey
'Jeopardy!' Debut Overshadowed
LeVar Burton
Monday marked LeVar Burton’s highly anticipated debut as a fill-in Jeopardy! host, and while it remains to be seen if the episode broke any ratings records — judging by the amount of love he’s been getting that could very well happen — we do know that a different kind of record was broken. The record for lowest score ever.
The contestant was Patrick Pearce, a product specialist from Fountain View, Calif. With his total number of wrong answers dipping into double digits, Pearce seemed on the verge of climbing out of the hole most of the night before taking a major blow during a Daily Double, and it was a question about U.S. government buildings overseas that finally put him into record-breaking territory.
Pearce’s negative $7,400 breaks a record previously held by Stephanie Hull since March 12, 2015, when she posted negative $6,800, according to Slate.
Of course viewers on Twitter took notice of Pearce’s accomplishments, both by having a little fun with him and also feeling his pain.
On what was supposed to be Burton’s big night, one fan perfectly pointed out the elephant in the room. With an obvious push among his fans to boost Burton’s episode ratings, Pearce’s record-breaking performance was most likely on display in front of an even bigger audience than would have normally been watching Jeopardy!.
LeVar Burton
“Once Upon a Time in Shaolin”
Wu-Tang Clan
An unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album forfeited by Martin Shkreli after his securities fraud conviction was sold Tuesday for an undisclosed sum, though prosecutors say it was enough to fully satisfy the rest of what he owed on a $7.4 million forfeiture order he faced after his 2018 sentencing.
The entrepreneur known as “Pharma Bro” once boasted that he paid $2 million in 2015 at auction for “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” the 31-track double album the Wu-Tang Clan spent six years creating.
Authorities said the sales contract for the album contained a confidentiality provision that protects information relating to the buyer and price.
In a civil case in Manhattan federal court, lawyers wrote in an April document that Shkreli had already reduced his forfeiture debt by about $5 million.
Shkreli, 38, is scheduled for release in October 2022 after serving a seven-year prison sentence.
Wu-Tang Clan
Ecuador Court Revokes Citizenship
Julian Assange
Ecuador has revoked the citizenship of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks who is currently in a British prison.
Ecuador’s justice system formally notified the Australian of the nullity of his naturalization in a letter that came in response to a claim filed by the South American country’s Foreign Ministry.
A naturalization is considered damaging when it is granted based on the concealment of relevant facts, false documents or fraud. Ecuadorian authorities say Assange’s naturalization letter had multiple inconsistencies, different signatures, the possible alteration of documents and unpaid fees, among other issues.
Carlos Poveda, Assange’s lawyer, told The Associated Press the decision was made without due process and Assange was not allowed to appear in the case.
Earlier this month, Britain’s High Court granted the U.S. government permission to appeal a decision that the WikiLeaks founder cannot be sent to the United States to face espionage charges.
Julian Assange
Learns Lesson?
George P.
In the end, George P. Bush (R-Nakedly Amoral) was left with nothing.
Bush — the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and now a candidate for Texas attorney general — worked hard to get Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up)'s endorsement for his race against the incumbent, Ken Paxton. He did so even though his family, which also includes former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush and his father, famously disdains Trump and his influence on the party they once dominated. He did so even though Trump had insulted his own mother on Twitter in 2015. And he did so by selling merch amplifying the fact that Trump had pitted him against his family. All in all, it was a nakedly amoral performance: If you'll sell out your loved ones in pursuit of power, why on earth would voters trust your integrity in office?
It didn't work. On Monday night, Trump endorsed Paxton.
What happened to Bush is a microcosm of the Republican Party's failures during the Trump era. GOP leaders prostrated themselves before a cruel and coarse man in hopes of gaining power, only to emerge with their dignity and power diminished. The more the party has bound itself to Trump's grievances and lies over the years, the more it has lost the confidence of voters — surrendering the House of Representatives in 2018, then the Senate and the White House in 2020. Bush isn't even the only Republican to surrender their family loyalty to the former president: Trump insulted the wife of Sen. Rafael "Ted" Cruz (R-Texas) and accused his father of participating in JFK's assassination, but Cruz remains doggedly loyal. It's both ominous and pathetic.
Yet Republicans continue to follow Trump's lead. What — besides feeding his ego — have they accomplished? "I can tell you the president enjoys the prospect of knowing how much it kills Jeb that his son has to bend the knee and kiss the ring," a source told Politico in May. "Who's your daddy? Trump loves that." George P. Bush learned the hard way you lose more than you gain by throwing yourself at Trump's feet. We're still waiting for the Republican Party to do the same.
George P.
Seized From Hobby Lobby
Epic of Gilgamesh
The Department of Justice has formally seized a 3600-year-old cuneiform tablet that bears part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the world’s oldest works of literature, from the christo-fascist crafts retailer Hobby Lobby.
The Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was imported illegally into the United States in the early 2000s and purchased by Hobby Lobby for display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington.
Last year, the DOJ confiscated the tablet, which measures 6 inches by 5 inches and is written in the Akkadian language, and originated in Mesopotamia, in modern-day Iraq.
A Federal investigation found it had not been properly declared when it was brought into the US.
The DOJ said Hobby Lobby agreed to forfeit the tablet as it had been illegally imported.
Epic of Gilgamesh
World's Largest Star Sapphire Cluster
Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan authorities say the world's largest star sapphire cluster has been found in a backyard - by accident.
A gem trader said the stone was found by workmen digging a well in his home in the gem-rich Ratnapura area.
Experts say the stone, which is pale blue in colour, has an estimated value of up to $100 million in the international market.
The cluster weighs around 510 kilograms or 2.5 million carats and has been named the "Serendipity Sapphire".
"The person who was digging the well alerted us about some rare stones. Later we stumbled upon this huge specimen," Mr Gamage, the owner of the stone, told the BBC.
Sri Lanka
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