Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Matthew Rosza: "What happens if Putin wins? Michael McFaul on 'the end of the liberal international order'" (Salon)
If American-British businessman Bill Browder is Russian President Vladimir Putin's " public enemy no. 1," then Michael McFaul, who served as President Barack Obama's representative to Russia from 2012 to 2014 after helping him craft the "Russia reset" policy as a senior foreign policy adviser, is seemingly a close second. Along with Browder, McFaul was one of several people who Trump offered to hand over to Putin for interrogation at the Helsinki summit last July.
Greg Sargent: Michael Cohen won't testify. Slowly but surely, Trump's abuses of power keep mounting. (Washington Post)
The other day, President Trump bravely subjected himself to questioning by hard-hitting journalist Jeanine Pirro of Fox News, where he vaguely suggested that he was aware of damaging information on the family members of longtime Trump fixer-turned-"rat" (Trump's word) Michael Cohen. "Nobody knows what's going on over there," Trump said of Cohen's father-in-law, suggesting that people should "look into it." Trump has also fired off similar tweets about Cohen, which legal experts have said looks like witness tampering.
Helaine Olen: John Bogle made investors richer - and the financial industry poorer (Washington Post)
There are many good things you can say about John Bogle, the founder of the Vanguard Group and a zealous proselytizer for index fund investing, who died at age 89 this week. He exposed to the masses the lie that is market timing, demonstrating that investors who didn't seek to beat stock market indexes and instead simply match them would do better in the end than those who sought a major score. But perhaps most important is this: Bogle made investing tolerable for people who don't like to invest. In this way, Bogle was the right man at the right time.
Kevin P. Sullivan: 15 Essential British Crime Movies (Vulture)
Because there are humans everywhere, crime happens everywhere. The location and the culture shape the people involved, the specifics of the deed, and the nature of the justice served - if and when it's served. The same holds true for crime fiction.
Suzanne Moore: How Fyre festival flogged an empty fantasy - and became a perfect symbol for our times (The Guardian)
Lots of chancers did very nicely out of the disastrous festival - while the unpaid islanders are dependent on a crowdfunding campaign.
Suzanne Moore: Cate Blanchett's S&M play is just the shock that tepid theatre needs (The Guardian)
When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other is brutal, unsparing and made an audience member faint. How brilliant.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
Tinkertoys were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York, in 1998.
Source
said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• Lots of baseball players have superstitions that they follow. For example, Randy Johnson used to sleep with his head at the foot of the bed the night before he was scheduled to pitch. However, he fell asleep one night with his head at the head of the bed, and the next day he pitched and won. Following that experience, he said, "I don't have any superstitions any more." As a pitcher, Mr. Johnson could be intimidating. While pitching AAA baseball, he hit a batter who started coming toward the plate. Mr. Johnson's teammate Brian Holman remembers, "Randy screamed at him, 'Don't mess with me. I'll take your life.' The guy went right to first base." At 6-feet-10, Mr. Johnson was the tallest player in major-league baseball. He was also a photographer, having studied fine arts in college. One day, he walked near an industrial dumpster. He was tall enough to see what was inside: a car perfectly positioned to fit in the dumpster's tight confines. Mr. Johnson took a much-admired photograph of the car and dumpster.
• Pete Rose often put himself in the right place at the right time. He and fellow Cincinnati Red Alex Johnson played in the outfield together in a day when Mr. Johnson was having a little difficulty fielding. Mr. Johnson ran to catch a long line drive hit by Hank Aaron. He jumped in the air, but the baseball bounced off his glove-into the glove of Mr. Rose, who had run all the way from center field to back him up. A little later, after Mr. Johnson made an error when he mishandled a line drive that came straight to him, he joked to Mr. Rose, "Where the h*ll were you?" Mr. Rose continued his hard play later when he was a Philadelphia Philly. In game 6 of the 1980 World Series (with the Phillies leading 3 games to 2), hard-hitting Frank White of the Kansas City Royals popped up. Phillies catcher Bob Boone dropped the ball, but Mr. Rose, who had hustled from first base to back him up, caught the ball before it hit the ground, making an out. The next Royal struck out, and Mr. Rose was once again a World Champion.
• One baseball player who never lost his enthusiasm for the job was relief pitcher Tug McGraw. Steve Fireovid, who had a brief career in the major leagues as a pitcher (71 innings over his 15 years in professional baseball), remembers that Mr. McGraw, then in the final year of his 20 years in baseball, would go into the Philadelphia clubhouse and scream, "ANOTHER DAY IN THE BIG LEAGUES!" Mr. Fireovid marvels, "This guy had been doing this for two decades, and he still had all this enthusiasm." Mr. Fireovid did work hard as a baseball pitcher, despite pitching only briefly in the big leagues. He once pitched in Puerto Rico during the winter, and in one game he pitched a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts and no walks. The next day, he carefully checked all the box scores from the league in Puerto Rico. His pitching had been by far the best of the night, and he realized that he had achieved a lifelong dream: "One day in your life, be the best in the world at what you do."
• On May 31, 1993, young Los Angeles Dodger catcher Mike Piazza attempted to throw a Cardinal base runner out, but instead he hit Dodger pitcher Tom Candiotti on the butt. Players on both teams laughed, and the next day all of the Dodger pitchers arrived at the ballpark with an addition to their uniforms: They were wearing targets on their butts. Another mishap early in Mr. Piazza's career came about because of the Dodgers' international - American, Japanese, Mexican, Dominican Republic, Korean - pitching staff. He went to the pitching mound and started speaking Spanish to Japanese hurler Hideo Nomo, who did not speak Spanish. Mr. Piazza later explained, "Brain cramp."
• On July 15, 1973, California Angel Nolan Ryan pitched a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. He was so overwhelming as a pitcher that when the Tigers' Norm Cash came out to bat with two outs in the 9th inning, he carried an enormous table leg (that he had gotten from a wooden table in the Tigers clubhouse) instead of a normal bat. Mr. Ryan yelled to the umpire, "Check his bat." Umpire Ron Luciano looked at the table leg and told Mr. Cash, "Get rid of it." Mr. Cash protested, "But I've got no chance with a bat." He was right. Using a normal bat, he popped up and made an out, and Mr. Ryan recorded his second no-hitter of the season.
• Early in his career, Philadelphia Phillie Mike Schmidt had a huge swing. Teammate Willie Montanez used to say "Achoo, achoo" when Mr. Schmidt was around, joking that he had caught a cold from the breeze of the slugger's swing. Mr. Schmidt ended his career with 548 home runs, but he could have one more. In 1974, he hit what must be the longest single in history when the baseball was stopped by a loudspeaker that hung from the Astrodome. The baseball almost certainly would have gone into the center-field bleachers if it had not hit the loudspeaker, which was hanging 117 feet above the baseball field, 360 feet from the home plate.
• When Christy Mathewson, who was later a Hall of Fame major-league pitcher, started pitching for a minor-league baseball team in Taunton, Massachusetts, the batters hit his pitches hard. Near the end of the game, he learned that the catcher was a friend of the veteran pitcher for Taunton. To help ensure that his friend did not lose his position as veteran pitcher, the catcher was telling the batters which pitch Christy was going to throw.
• Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench could make a point with his catching. In a game against the Dodgers, Cincinnati pitcher Gerry Arrigo was throwing a very good curveball, but a very slow fastball. To make exactly that point, Mr. Bench caught one of Mr. Arrigo's fastballs barehanded. Both teams laughed, and Mr. Arrigo's fastball got a whole lot faster.
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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
JD is on vacation.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Didn't get the computer into the shop - sigh.
OTOH, only 1 2 blue screens today.
'Color Out of Space'
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage has grabbed the lead in Color Out of Space, a sci-fi thriller from director Richard Stanley and co-producers SpectreVision and ACE Pictures.
Based on a novella by H.P. Lovecraft, the indie project reunites Cage with SpectreVision, the genre division of Company X, which produced the 2018 psychedelic revenge drama Mandy. Color Out of Space also stars Joely Richardson, Tommy Chong, Julian Hilliard and Q'Orianka Kilcher.
The film, which starts production next month, portrays the Gardners, a family who move to rural New England for country peace, only to face a meteorite crashing into their front yard. The mysterious aerolite infects the land with a strange, otherworldly color, leaving the Gardner family to face an alien force gradually mutating every life form it touches.
Stanley is directing his first feature in over 20 years, after earlier cult classics like Hardware, Dust Devil and the 1996 flick The Island of Dr. Moreau, with Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer,
Nicolas Cage
Dragon Guitar Reborn
Jimmy Page
After five decades, Jimmy Page's dragon has re-emerged from its lair.
Fender instruments on Wednesday gave the public its first look at its recreation of a Telecaster guitar that Page once painted with a dragon, a long-lost piece of six-string history that marked the guitar hero's last days in the Yardbirds and first days in Led Zeppelin.
The instrument with the psychedelic green-and-red serpent on its body represents "a pivotal moment for the guitar and music," said Paul Waller, the master builder who worked side-by-side with Page to make him a spot-on match of the guitar before making 50 more by hand to sell to the public.
The reboot was hatched when Page was looking through photographs for a book celebrating last year's 50th anniversary of Led Zeppelin. The dragon guitar, which he says was once his "Excalibur," kept popping up in them, and he started to think it was time to get past his bitterness about its fate.
The 1959 Telecaster, pre-paint, had been a cherished gift from his fellow former Yardbird bandmate Jeff Beck.
Jimmy Page
Responds To Troll
Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt has once again proved he's even better at compassion than he is at Twitter - and he's great at that!
It all started Thursday when a man named Michael Beatty came after Oswalt on Twitter for a tweet the comedian posted Wednesday making fun of President Donald Trump's border wall plan.
To say Beatty wasn't impressed is an understatement. He sent Oswalt two tweets to let him know.
Oswalt then took a look at the Twitter page of the guy who was going after him and discovered the guy was dealing with some serious stuff in his life.
Oswalt donated $2,000 to a GoFundMe page set up by Beatty to raise money for a variety of health problems, including sepsis and ketoacidosis.
Patton Oswalt
Poodle Revealed
'Masked Singer'
Not since bloody-nosed rocker Andrew WK gave a keynote speech to an audience of bronies at a My Little Pony convention or Insane Clown Posse's Violent J attended a furries convention in an ICP fursuit has there been such a mind-melting mix of wackadoodle celebrities and pop music as Fox's new "talent" competition, The Masked Singer. C'mon, on what other show can you see Tommy Chong stoner-rocking his way through Gloria Gaynor's empowerment anthem "I Will Survive" while wearing a colossal pineapple head, or Terry Bradshaw warbling Florida Georgia Line in an S&M-ish leather deer outfit?
But while those two recently unmasked rejects actually could not sing much better than, well, an actual pineapple or deer, this week's elimination was definitely premature. The pretty-in-pink Poodle not only wore the most absolutely fabulous outfit of the series but possessed some genuine musical chops. Sadly, though, this week the show bid farewell to … Margaret Cho.
Masked Singer judge Ken Jeong, who declared Cho a "pioneer in Asian-American comedy," was gobsmacked when she removed her poufy pink headpiece. Even though Cho had appeared on Jeong's own sitcom, Dr. Ken, he hadn't recognized her - instead making dumb-and-dumber guesses like Judge Judy and Omarosa.
Cho's a true music buff, as evidenced by her record-shopping excursion with Yahoo Entertainment when she gushed about '80s ladies like the Go-Go's, Bananarama, Scandal, the Belle Stars, the Divinyls and those impossibly chic fashion-plate sidekicks from the Human League. On The Masked Singer, Cho covered Pat Benatar and Cyndi Lauper. I really wish she had stuck around a few weeks to cover some of her more left-field musical favorites, like the Tubes, Afghan Whigs and Megadeth.
'Masked Singer'
Won't Be Around For Valentine's Day
Sweethearts
A popular Valentine's candy won't be around for Valentine's Day in 2019.
Sweethearts, popular little heart-shaped candy pieces that feature sayings such as "Be Mine", "Kiss Me", and more will not be produced for the 2019 season due to a change in ownership which caused production to halt.
Sweethearts were owned by New England Confectionary Company, famous for NECCO Wafers. The company was sold in bankruptcy court in 2018 and its brands were purchased last year by Spangler Candy, owners of the Dum-Dum lollipop brand.
Spangler Candy told CNBC that the acquisition was completed in September but the company did not have time to start production on the candied hearts in time for Valentine's Day.
According to the candy's website, the present-day Sweethearts candy has been a part of Valentine's Day traditions since 1902.
Sweethearts
"New Abnormal"
Doomsday Clock
The Doomsday Clock isn't moving this year. It's still at two minutes to midnight as the world experiences a dangerous, volatile and unsustainable "new abnormal," the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said Thursday.
"Though unchanged from 2018, this setting should be taken not as a sign of stability but as a stark warning to leaders and citizens around the world," the non-profit organization said in a statement.
The Bulletin said two major existential threats -- nuclear weapons and climate change -- "were exacerbated this past year by the increased use of information warfare to undermine democracy around the world, amplifying risk from these and other threats and putting the future of civilization in extraordinary danger."
But it added, "there is no reason the Doomsday Clock cannot move away from catastrophe."
The clock was created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which evaluates scientific and technological advancements and works to sway public policy. Whether or not the clock's minute hand moves every year is decided by the organization's Science and Security Board alongside its Board of Sponsors -- comprised of more than a dozen Nobel laureates, according to the organization.
Doomsday Clock
Replaces Astronaut
NASA
NASA has replaced an astronaut assigned to Boeing's first launch with a crew.
Astronaut Eric Boe was pulled Tuesday from the upcoming test flight for unspecified medical reasons, after more than three years of training. Taking his seat will be Mike Fincke, a former space station commander.
Boeing plans to launch its first Starliner capsule without a crew this spring, followed by a launch with astronauts this summer to the International Space Station.
SpaceX - NASA's other commercial crew partner - could launch its Dragon capsule, minus a crew, next month. The capsule and Falcon rocket were on the launch pad Wednesday for a test engine firing.
Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson, who commanded the final space shuttle flight in 2011 before leaving NASA, said it would have been "an honor" to fly with Boe again to the space station. They were on the same shuttle flight in 2008 during station construction.
NASA
Pulls Out of Super Bowl
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is pulling back from the Super Bowl after an 11-year run, opting to run a commercial just before kickoff of the CBS broadcast of the game on February 3, but not in the event itself.
CBS is seeking between $5.1 million and $5.3 million for commercial packages that air in the game itself. Ads that run pre-game can cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands of dollars to a few million, depending on their proximity to the start of the annual pigskin contest.
Coca-Cola intends to run a 60-second commercial just before kickoff that burnishes themes of diversity and inclusion, says Stuart Kronauge, senior vice president of marketing for Coca-Cola North America and president of its sparking beverages business unit. "We have a long history of using the country's biggest advertising stage to share a message of unity and positivity, especially at times when our nation feels divided," he said in a statement. "This year, we decided to place our ad just before the national anthem as Americans come together in their living rooms to remind everyone that 'together is beautiful."
The new commercial, crafted by the independent ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, will feature original animated characters reminding viewers that the company's flagship drink is for all consumers. It's inspired by a 1975 quote from artist Andy Warhol, which will be used as the closing line in the commercial: "We all have different hearts and hands; heads holding various views. Don't you see? Different is beautiful. And, together is beautiful, too."
Coca-Cola has employed a similar strategy in the recent past. Last year, during NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl LII, the beverage giant ran a spot featuring people from different races, nationalities and geographic regions. In one scene, a person in a wheelchair and a helmet takes part in a daredevil athletic competition. A poem read during the commercial played up the fact that anyone might enjoy a Coca-Cola: "We all have different looks and loves / likes and dislikes, too. / But there's a Coke for we and us / and there's a Coke for you." In 2014, Coca-Cola got attention for running a Super Bowl commercial with children singing "America the Beautiful" in many languages. The spot included people from various walks of life. Some wore cowboy hats. Some wore hijabs. The commercial is believed to be the first Super Bowl ad to show same-sex parents.
Coca-Cola
Top 20
Global Concert Tours
The Top 20 Global Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows Worldwide. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers. Week of January 23, 2019:
1. Taylor Swift; $7,623,150; $122.95.
2. Jay-Z / Beyoncé; $6,924,232; $130.85.
3. Ed Sheeran; $4,861,188; $92.09.
4. U2; $4,704,251; $133.46.
5. Drake; $3,954,683; $115.93.
6. Bruno Mars; $3,669,353; $139.73.
7. Eagles; $3,613,379; $175.86.
8. Roger Waters; $3,237,377; $72.42.
9. Elton John; $2,619,103; $129.01.
10. "Springsteen On Broadway"; $2,149,554; $509.02.
11. Metallica; $2,116,177; $127.67.
12. Justin Timberlake; $2,100,313; $126.58.
13. Phil Collins; $2,092,876; $150.65.
14. Journey / Def Leppard; $1,870,896; $98.79.
15. Fleetwood Mac; $1,850,333; $132.67.
16. Luis Miguel; $1,798,669; $94.87.
17. Sam Smith; $1,511,727; $106.18.
18. Maroon 5; $1,457,314; $103.96.
19. Jeff Lynne's ELO; $1,443,766; $108.90.
20. Childish Gambino; $1,314,233; $93.47.
Global Concert Tours
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