Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Suzanne Moore: Whiteguymageddon? Calm down, dears (Guardian)
The mere hint of equal opportunities reveals the deep fear in the body politic.
Tom Danehy: Tom takes on hedge-funders, Gwyneth Paltrow's wacky water claims and more (Tucson Weekly)
This may be the most disgusting thing I have ever read in my entire life. Last year, the four highest-paid hedge fund managers took in more money than the combined salaries of all 160,000 kindergarten teachers in the United States. Just let that stew for a moment. Four people took in (I refuse to use the word "earned" here) more money than 160,000 teachers, almost all of whom are college educated.
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes (YouTube)
"Grammar nazis, you have an anthem! We knew Weird Al Yankovic was pretty picky about grammar and punctuation, if you recall his campaign to correct public signs a few years ago. His new parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" gets right to the point: use language properly, or keep it to yourself on the internet. Here's the second video released from his new album Mandatory Fun. And don't forget - Weird Al has a big dictionary." - Neatorama
Maggie Zhang: 11 Psychological Tricks Restaurants Use To Make You Spend More Money (Business Insider)
Eating out is so common we don't really think about the work that goes into creating a fine dining experience. Yet behind the scenes, menu engineers and consultants put careful thought into the way you choose what foods you eat. Here are 11 of the sneakiest psychological tricks restaurants use to make you spend more money: …
Manic Pixie Dream Girls: why their inventor is apologizing (Guardian)
Those kooky, free-spirited female characters who pop up in movies to transform the lives of miserable men - we've had enough of them, apparently.
Mel Campbell: Should we mourn the end of blogs? (Guardian)
Maintaining a personal blog has become entrepreneurial, and young people want nothing to do with it. I'll keep on updating my lonely, uncool one - but other platforms are just as valuable.
Oliver Burkeman: No, I won't watch that cringe-inducing viral video. I'm a better person than you (Guardian)
It's OK to feel vicariously bad for idiots on the internet, because we - the Easily Empathetically Embarrassed - are suffering together. Science says so!
No wallet, no art dealer, no problem! Welcome to the age of the spend-swift (Guardian)
It's never been easier to e-buy something. It's also never seemed so dangerous. But relax and ... just don't overbid on that Picasso.
Kacy Catanzaro at the 2014 Dallas Finals | American Ninja Warrior (YouTube)
Kacy Catanzaro shocks the ANW universe once again and becomes the first woman in history to qualify for Mt. Midoriyama.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
"Doug's Most Shared Facebook Post" Today
wrote:
took the day off.
has retired.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
David
Thanks, Dave!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Twofer From Team Coco
CONAN
Conan & Dave Franco Join Tinder
CONAN Highlight: Conan & Dave, AKA Chip Whitley & Jengis Roundstone, are on a mission to use the dating app to meet beautiful women.
(Available Worldwide.)
"Weird Al" Yankovic "Tacky" 07/17/14
"Weird Al" Yankovic performs a track from his album "Mandatory Fun."
(Available Worldwide.)
from Marc Perkel
BartCop
Hello Bartcop fans,
As you all know the untimely passing of Terry was unexpected, even by
him. We all knew he had cancer but we all thought he had some years
left. So some of us who have worked closely with him over the years are
scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. My job, among other
things, is to establish communications with the Bartcop community and
provide email lists and groups for those who might put something
together. Those who want to play an active roll in something coming from
this, or if you are one of Bart's pillars, should send an email to
active@bartcop.com.
The most active open discussion is on Bart's Facebook page.
( www.facebook.com/bartcop )
You can listen to Bart's theme song here
or here.
( www.bartcop.com/blizing-saddles.mp3 )
( youtu.be/MySGAaB0A9k )
We have opened up the radio show archives which are now free. Listen to
all you want.
( bartcop.com/members )
Bart's final wish was to pay off the house mortgage for Mrs. Bart who is
overwhelmed and so very grateful for the support she has received.
Anyone wanting to make a donation can click on this the yellow donate
button on bartcop.com
But - I need you all to help keep this going. This note
isn't going to directly reach all of Bart's fans. So if you can repost
it on blogs and discussion boards so people can sign up then when we
figure out what's next we can let more people know. This list is just
over 600 but like to get it up to at least 10,000 pretty quick. So
here's the signup link for this email list.
( mailman.bartcop.com/listinfo/bartnews )
Marc Perkel
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and seasonal.
CD Collection Up For Auction
Harvey Pekar
The widow of underground comic book writer Harvey Pekar, whose life story was told in the movie "American Splendor," is auctioning part of his extensive jazz CD collection to raise money for the family of a restaurant owner killed in June.
Joyce Brabner, Pekar's widow and overseer of his estate, put 200 CDs owned by the comic book author, noted jazz critic and collector, for sale on eBay on Monday. The bids had reached $500 as of Thursday. Bidding ends Saturday.
Jim Brennan, 61, was shot and killed in the basement of the Brennan's Colony restaurant in Cleveland Heights in a robbery on June 30. Four suspects, including a man who worked at the restaurant, have been arrested in connection with the killing.
Pekar chronicled his struggles in working class Cleveland in his comic books, gaining acclaim and making multiple appearances on Late Night with David Letterman in the 1980s. He appeared as himself in "American Splendor," which starred Paul Giamatti as Pekar.
Harvey Pekar
World Getting Warmer
State of the Climate
The world is getting warmer, as greenhouse gases reach historic highs and Arctic sea ice melts, making 2013 one of the hottest years on record, international scientists said Thursday.
The annual State of the Climate report 2013 is a review of scientific data and weather events over the past year, compiled by 425 scientists from 57 countries.
The report looks at essential climate variables, much like a doctor checks a person's vital signs at an annual checkup, said Tom Karl, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center.
While Karl declined to give a diagnosis for the planet, he said the report shows some surprises but an ongoing trend that continues the warming pattern seen in recent decades.
State of the Climate
$12.3M To Help Restore Home
Robert E. Lee
A historic plantation originally built as a monument to George Washington overlooking the nation's capital, a site that later was home to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and 63 slaves, will be restored to its historical appearance after a $12.3 million gift announced Thursday.
David Rubenstein, a billionaire history buff and co-founder of The Carlyle Group, said he is giving the National Park Foundation the funds needed for a full restoration of the historic house, grounds and slave quarters to show visitors how they appeared in 1860, as well as an overhaul of the site's museum exhibits. Rubenstein said the site crowns the most sacred land in the country, Arlington National Cemetery, but needed major repairs.
Rubenstein also has given multimillion dollar gifts in recent years to restore the Washington Monument, the first president's Mount Vernon estate and Thomas Jefferson's home at Monticello, including a recreation of its historic slave quarters.
Arlington House, as it is known, was built between 1802 and 1818 by Washington's step grandson, George Washington Parke Custis and his slaves on a hilltop overlooking the new capital city and the Potomac River. Lee later married into the family, and it became his family's plantation estate.
Robert E. Lee
Shipwreck's Gold Inventory Released
SS Central America
Deep-sea explorers recovered millions of dollars in gold and silver and a slew of personal items that are a virtual time capsule of the California Gold Rush, according to newly unsealed court documents obtained by The Associated Press that provide the first detailed inventory of a treasure trove being resurrected from an 1857 shipwreck at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
The recovery effort at the SS Central America shipwreck, about 200 miles off the South Carolina coast, began in April and is expected to continue throughout the summer.
The operation is being directed by a court-appointed receiver of an Ohio company that had been led by a treasure hunter-turned-fugitive named Tommy Thompson, who first found the Central America in 1988 - a monumental achievement funded by a group of central Ohio investors who never saw a penny.
The inventories, unsealed by a federal judge in Virginia late Wednesday, show that Odyssey Marine has brought up 43 solid gold bars, 1,300 $20 double eagle gold coins, and thousands more gold and silver coins.
SS Central America
Co-Author Testifies
Jesse Ventura
The co-author of "American Sniper" testified Thursday that former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle did not want to name former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura as the man Kyle allegedly punched in a California bar in 2006.
Jim DeFelice testified as part of Ventura's defamation lawsuit against the estate of Kyle, who was killed in Texas last year.
One of Ventura's attorneys asked DeFelice why he did not contact Ventura about the section describing the bar fight when he was researching the book, the Star Tribune reported.
"It was not Jesse's book," DeFelice responded.
In a video deposition aired earlier in the court case, Kyle stated that he did not want to embarrass any SEAL with revelations in the book and did not want Ventura's name used. Ventura's name appeared in early drafts shown on a large screen in the courtroom Thursday.
Jesse Ventura
Police Seize Medical Records
Marlene Pinnock
California Highway Patrol investigators have seized the medical records of a woman seen on video being repeatedly punched by one of its officers on the side of a Los Angeles freeway.
Chris Arevalo, executive administrator for psychiatric services at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, confirmed that the CHP served a search warrant Tuesday for medical records.
Caree Harper, the attorney for Marlene Pinnock - the woman in the video - said she was notified by Arevalo on Wednesday and told the search warrant was for "property or things that are evidence that tend to show that a felony has been committed or tends to show that a particular person has committed a felony."
Harper said the CHP took files that included statements to her doctor about how she was feeling and references to her attorney. She said she was outraged by the violation of doctor-patient privacy and attorney-client privilege. Harper has said she plans to file a federal lawsuit alleging civil rights violations and will hold a news conference Thursday.
"She suffered a traumatic head injury," Harper said. "How can you give away files about someone injured ... to the very people who beat her?"
Marlene Pinnock
Lesson In US Geography
Orlando International Airport
Federal security officers at Orlando International Airport were getting a geography lesson this week after one failed to recognize the nation's capital as part of the United States.
The incident occurred over the weekend at the airport security checkpoint when an officer for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration initially refused to accept a passenger's District of Columbia driver's license as a valid form of identification, and asked for a passport.
Unfortunately for the TSA, the passenger happened to be a Washington, D.C.-based reporter for Orlando ABC affiliate WTSP which aired a story detailing the incident on Tuesday, attracting more media notice.
The reporter, Justin Gray, said in his broadcast that the officer told Gray he didn't recognize the District of Columbia driver's license before requesting a passport. Gray, who wasn't traveling with his passport, said he queried the officer.
Orlando International Airport
Risk Increased For One-Third Of US
Earthquakes
A new federal earthquake map dials up the shaking hazard just a bit for about one-third of the United States and lowers it for one-tenth.
The U.S. Geological Survey on Thursday updated its national seismic hazard maps for the first time since 2008, taking into account research from the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the Japanese coast and the surprise 2011 Virginia temblor.
The maps are used for building codes and insurance purposes and they calculate just how much shaking an area probably will have in the biggest quake likely over a building's lifetime.
The highest risk places have a 2 percent chance of experiencing "very intense shaking" over a 50-year lifespan, USGS project chief Mark Petersen said. Those with lower hazard ratings would experience less intense swaying measured in gravitational force.
Petersen said the maps sidestep the issue of earthquakes created by injections of wastewater from oil and gas drilling in Oklahoma and other states, saying those extra quakes weren't included in the analysis. So far this year, nearly 250 small to medium quakes have hit Oklahoma.
Earthquakes
Top 20
Concert Tours
The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
1. (1) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; $1,478,686; $97.32.
2. (2) Bruno Mars; $1,184,010; $88.65.
3. (3) Cher; $1,142,788; $91.05.
4. (4) Dave Matthews Band; $1,081,476; $54.60.
5. (New) Romeo Santos; $813,990; $82.04.
6. (5) Journey/Steve Miller Band; $714,809; $55.56.
7. (6) James Taylor; $692,328; $72.69.
8. (7) Cirque du Soleil - "Michael Jackson: The Immortal"; $651,829; $86.18.
9. (8) Tim McGraw; $476,912; $36.13.
10. (9) Backstreet Boys; $410,876; $49.34.
11. (10) Florida Georgia Line; $375,544; $40.43.
12. (13) Widespread Panic; $286,517; $45.11.
13. (11) Lana Del Rey; $256,465; $46.91.
14. (12) Eddie Izzard; $253,997; $58.02.
15. (14) Brantley Gilbert; $219,399; $30.76.
16. (15) Willie Nelson/Alison Krauss + Union Station feat. Jerry Douglas; $209,588; $58.47.
17. (18) Heart; $199,965; $68.26.
18. (17) Il Divo; $199,663; $65.14.
19. (16) Foreigner/Styx; $196,648; $42.70.
20. (20) Rob Thomas; $157,353; $68.70.
Concert Tours
In Memory
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch was more than a Broadway actress. She was a New York institution, strolling around in a fur coat, pork pie hat or oversized sunglasses. She often wore shorts and ties, or just black stockings and a white flowing shirt. Her weapon of choice was the zinger.
Stritch, who became a sort of shorthand for acting longevity since she made her Broadway debut in "Loco" in 1946, died Thursday at 89 in her home state of Michigan - far from her adopted home of New York and her former longtime home and stage at the Carlyle Hotel. But Broadway and New York immediately sent their love.
Although Stritch appeared in movies and on television, garnering three Emmys and finding new fans as Alec Baldwin's unforgiving mother on "30 Rock," she was best known for her stage work, particularly in her candid one-woman memoir, "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty," and in the Stephen Sondheim musical "Company."
Stritch worked well into her late 80s, most recently as Madame Armfeldt in a revival of Sondheim's musical "A Little Night Music" in 2010. She had built up so much goodwill that simply appearing onstage triggered a wave of applause, but she said she still tried to earn it every night. Her tart tongue also remained.
"You know where I'm at in age?" she asked during the run. "I don't need anything. That's a little scary - when you know that the last two bras you bought are it. You won't need any more. I'm not going to live long for any big, new discovery at Victoria's Secret."
In 2013, Stritch retired to Michigan after 71 years in New York City and made a series of farewell performances at the Carlyle, where she lived for a decade. A documentary released in February showed her final years, complete with forgotten lyrics, touching moments and flashes of irrational anger.
Someone asked her if she liked it. "I said I loved it, I just wish I wasn't in it," she replied. When she flew back to New York to promote the film - "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me" - she was as feisty as ever and even unleashing the F-bomb on the "Today" show.
Her life story was the basis of "At Liberty," the show in which she explored her ups, downs and in-betweens. She discussed her stage fright, missed showbiz opportunities, alcoholism, battle with diabetes and love life, all interspersed with songs. It earned her a Tony Award in 2002 and an Emmy when it was later televised on HBO.
She was parodied in 2010 on an episode of "The Simpsons" in which Lisa Simpson attends a fancy performing arts camp. One class was on making wallets with Elaine Stritch and Andrew Lloyd Webber. "That's worth being in the business for 150 years," she said with a laugh.
Stritch's films include "A Farewell to Arms" (1957), "Out to Sea" (1997), and Woody Allen's "September" (1987) and "Small Time Crooks" (2000). She also appeared on TV, most notably a guest spot on "Law & Order" in 1990, which won Stritch her first Emmy. The recurring role in "30 Rock" got her another in 2007.
She starred in the London stage productions of Neil Simon's "The Gingerbread Lady" and Tennessee Williams' "Small Craft Warnings." It was in England that Stritch met and married actor John Bay. They were married for 10 years. He died of a brain tumor in 1982.
Elaine Stritch
In Memory
Johnny Winter
Texas blues legend Johnny Winter emblazoned himself into the world's consciousness with his tattooed arms churning out lightning-fast guitar riffs and his striking long white hair flowing from under his cowboy hat.
His contrasting appearance and devotion to the blues pioneers of the 20th century turbo-charged a career in which he emulated and, ultimately, championed, his childhood hero Muddy Waters and other icons. Winters carved out a wide niche - and became an icon himself - starting in the late 1960s and 1970s with a sound that blues and country singer Tracy Nelson, prominent during the same era with her band Mother Earth, described as "Texas second generation."
Winter's representative, Carla Parisi, confirmed Thursday that he died in a hotel room just outside Zurich a day earlier at age 70. The statement said his wife, family and bandmates were all saddened by the loss of one of the world's finest guitarists.
Winter was a leading light among the white blues guitar players, including Eric Clapton and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, who followed in the footsteps of the earlier Chicago blues masters. He idolized Waters - and got a chance to produce some of the blues legend's more popular albums. Rolling Stone magazine named Winter one of the top 100 guitarists of all time.
Winter had been on an extensive tour this year to celebrate his 70th birthday. His last performance was on Saturday at the Lovely Days Festival in Wiesen, Austria.
He had recently announced that he would follow up his 2011 album "Roots" with a new studio album, "Step Back," in September featuring collaborators such as Eric Clapton, Ben Harper, Joe Perry, Dr. John and Joe Bonnamassa.
John Dawson Winter III was born on Feb. 23, 1944 and raised in Beaumont, Texas. He was the older brother of Edgar Winter, who like him was an albino, and rose to musical fame with the Edgar Winter Group.
His career received a big boost early on when Rolling Stone singled him out as one of the best blues guitarists on the Texas scene. This helped secure a substantial recording contract from Columbia Records in 1969 that led to an appearance at the Woodstock Festival and gave him a wide following among college students and young blues fans.
He was one of the most popular live acts of the early 1970s, when his signature fast blues guitar solos attracted a wide following. Crowds were dazzled by the speed - and volume - of his guitar playing, which had its roots in urban blues but incorporated elements of rock 'n'roll. But his addiction problems with heroin during that decade and later battles with alcohol and prescription medication also drew attention.
Winter performed often with blues and rock singer Janis Joplin and the two became close during the 1960s.
Among the blues classics that Winter played during that era were "Rollin' and Tumblin'," ''Bad Luck and Trouble" and "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl." He also teamed up with his brother Edgar for their 1976 live album "Together."
He was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1988, and his devotion to the music never wavered.
Johnny Winter
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