Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Lucy Mangan: 100 Vaginas review - an extraordinary and empowering spread of the legs (The Guardian)
It's not until you see a full set of female genitals filling your TV screen that you realise how little they feature in our culture. Bravo, Laura Dodsworth.
Hadley Freeman: People rush to excuse rock stars behaving badly - even the mediocre ones (The Guardian)
I guess I missed the meeting where it was decided art matters more than people.
Suzanne Moore: I can't wait for the striking schoolchildren to grab the reins of power (The Guardian)
The UK's kids protesting climate change were passionate, articulate and unafraid - those with old ideas need to get out of the way.
Marina Hyde: And the Oscar for most self-satirising ceremony goes to
(The Guardian)
No actual host, plans to give awards off-screen - it's not as if the Academy Awards need any more unscripted drama.
Alison Flood: Romance novelist Cristiane Serruya accused of plagiarism (The Guardian)
Brazilian author blames ghostwriter after fellow novelists, including bestseller Courtney Milan, flag passages they claim were lifted from their work verbatim.
Dalya Alberge: Ennio Morricone settles old scores with 'simplistic' directors (The Guardian)
Eminent Hollywood composer, 90, hits out at film-makers' poor understanding of music.
Jonathan Jones: Should you ever send nude pictures taken for an old lover to a new partner? (The Guardian)
Take it from art history: if someone demands daily visual evidence of your naked bona fides, they probably have a very narrow definition of the desirable.
Peter Bradshaw: "Stanley Donen: a Hollywood blueblood treasured for Singin' in the Rain" (The Guardian)
Donen's brilliance helped reinvent the Hollywood musical, and he went on to display a tremendous skill for romance and comedy.
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 Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 100 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
In 1968, Ivan Nagy joined the American Ballet Theatre for a three-week tour in Japan. Unfortunately, Mr. Nagy did not adjust well to the raw seafood that was served there, and he grew weak because he was vomiting between performances. One day, while performing in Etude he made a jump, fell off balance, and almost landed in the orchestra pit. Afterward, American Ballet Theatre VIP Lucia Chase came backstage to see him. He told her, "I am terribly sorry, Madame Chase. I have to admit I almost fell into the orchestra pit. I am ill. I can't eat. I have no energy, and I am dancing everyday." Mr. Nagy was surprised when Ms. Chase replied, "Ivan, your hair is much too long. You've got to get a shag." All Ms. Chase was concerned about was his long hair. This story does have a happy ending. Mr. Nagy learned to eat raw fish, to live with a new hairstyle, and to call Madame Chase "Lucia."
Dr. Thomas R.P. Dawson survived the Japanese occupation of Malaysia during World War II. Just before the takeover, he decided to visit his barber. The air raid siren blew during his haircut, and he and his barber went to an air raid shelter. Later, they returned to the barbershop, when once again the siren blew. Again, they went to an air raid shelter, and again, they returned to the barbershop, and again, the siren blew. Before Dr. Dawson received a complete hair cut, he and his barber had visited the air raid shelter together four times.
After dancing the first act of Giselle in Mexico, Alicia Markova was surrounded by eager souvenir-seekers who had danced the roles of the peasants in Act 1 and who began to snip off locks of her hair. Her sister, Doris, pleaded with them to leave some hair for the second act, but Ms. Markova was able to stop them only by promising them souvenirs from her dressing room. After the ballet, the souvenir-seekers descended on her dressing room and carried away hairnets and powder puffs and other small items.
Entertainer Phil Baker was bald and wore a hairpiece. Once, while they were working together on the movie Goldwyn Follies, the very distinguished Adolphe Menjou saw Mr. Baker and told him, "My God, where did you get that piece? Wardrobe will take advantage of a newcomer every time. You go right back there and tell them to give you a decent hairpiece." Unfortunately, Mr. Baker's hairpiece did not come from wardrobe - it was his own personal property.
Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) was a prolific composer on nearly any topic. He once said, "Give me a laundry list, and I will set it to music." He also was able to work under pressure. According to Rossini, "Nothing primes inspiration more than necessity, whether it be a copyist waiting for your work, or the prodding of an impresario tearing his hair. In my time, all the impresarios of Italy were bald at thirty."
Pianist Ignacy Paderewski once gave a performance in which everything had gone wrong. Rushing to leave the theater afterward, he hopped into a cab. The cab driver asked, "Where to?" In a hurry to be away from the theater, Paderewski replied, "Anywhere." The cab driver looked at Paderewski's bushy red hair, and then decided, "I'll take you to a barber."
Early in her career, actress Leslie Caron studied ballet with the Conservatoire National in Paris, but Ms. Caron decided to move on to the Roland Petit Company for an unusual reason - all the students in the Conservatoire National had to wear their hair in the same style. She disliked the regimentation, so she left.
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and his wife once dined with Fred Astaire, who kept his head bent over his bowl of soup. They asked if something was wrong, and Mr. Astaire replied, "Can't you notice anything?" They said that they could not, and he said, "I'm disappointed. I've got a new toupee and I wondered if it showed."
Ballet dancers frequently find it difficult to keep their hair in order while performing. Robert Joffrey of Joffrey Ballet used to run around backstage with a can of hair spray, spraying any stray wisps of hair he saw. Some dancers have even been known to use dabs of Elmer's Glue-All to keep their hair in place.
Gay men are interested in many body types. For example, some gay men are turned on by "bears" - men with lots of body hair. One gay man entered and won a bear contest, and displayed the trophy at home. His mother visited one day and asked about the trophy. After hearing his explanation, she asked only, "So how much money did you win?"
The ancient rabbis were against polygamy. They told a story of a man with two wives: one old and one young. While he was asleep, his young wife plunked out his grey hairs so that he would appear to be young. However, his old wife plunked out his black hairs so that he would appear to be old. Very quickly, the man became bald.
Ed Sullivan, who was a columnist before becoming a TV personality, once wrote an item about comedian George Burns' use of a toupee. Mr. Burns was annoyed and told Mr. Sullivan off. Mr. Sullivan protested, "I didn't think you would mind." Mr. Burns replied, "If I didn't mind, why would I be wearing a toupee?"
Oscar Wilde once said that he had two secretaries to handle his fan mail. One secretary signed Mr. Wilde's autograph and answered letters from fans requesting an autograph, while the other secretary sent locks of his own hair to fans requesting locks of Mr. Wilde's hair - the second secretary soon was in danger of going bald.
On one occasion, Alicia Markova fractured her foot during the first act of Giselle, forcing by her replacement in the second act by Mia Slavenska. The audience must have been startled by the substitution and by the dramatic change in Giselle's hair color, as Ms. Markova is a dark brunette and Ms. Slavenska is red-headed.
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
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
The number one movie at the box office this week was 'How To Train Your Dragon'.
A long time ago, I worked the overnight shift at the old Disney Channel with a guy named Tony.
We worked in separate control rooms, and since there were only the 2 of us in the facility, protocol was to inform the other operator whenever a break was necessary.
Couple of times a night Tony would stick his head into my little room and say 'Time to drain the dragon.'
The phrase is so embedded in my memory that every time I see/read/type 'How To Train Your Dragon' I hear 'How To Drain Your Dragon'.
No-Holds-Barred Tuxedo Gown
Billy Porter
The red carpet is just kicking off for Oscars night, and already we have a strong argument for shutting the whole thing down and sending everybody home. Because Billy Porter showed up in a tuxedo gown by Christian Siriano and, really, who's going to top that combo of gender-defying fashion and high-wattage pageantry?
The actor told Vogue about his inspiration for wearing the gown:
Now I'm in a space where, being on Pose , I'm invited to red carpets and I have something to say through clothes. My goal is to be a walking piece of political art every time I show up. To challenge expectations. What is masculinity? What does that mean?
In a moment in both fashion and culture where questions of masculinity and the construction of gender are increasingly (and rightfully) being brought to the fore, it's cool as hell to see Porter stepping into the spotlight and doubtless sparking more than a few conversations. "We wanted to play between the masculine and the feminine," he told Vogue. "This look was interesting because it's not drag. I'm not a drag queen, I'm a man in a dress."
It's a risk, of course. And Porter knows it. The great thing is, he's not concerned with the folks who might not be ready for his fashion choices. "People are going to be really uncomfortable with my black ass in a ball gown-but it's not anybody's business but mine."
Billy Porter
First Female Ambassador
Saudi
Saudi Arabia appointed its first female ambassador early Sunday to serve as its top diplomat in the United States, pulling a son of King Salman back to the kingdom to serve as deputy defense minister amid deteriorating ties with America after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, a daughter of the kingdom's longtime ambassador to Washington Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, faces a stark challenge in improving ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
She replaces Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud, a son of King Salman and a former fighter pilot who insisted after Khashoggi's disappearance Oct. 2 that the Washington Post columnist simply left the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.
Instead, members of the entourage of his brother, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, allegedly assassinated and dismembered Khashoggi inside the diplomatic post.
Princess Reema, who studied in America and is known in the kingdom for her philanthropic work, lived in the U.S. during her father's over 20 years as the Saudi ambassador there. Her father also served as the head of the country's intelligence service.
Saudi
Kilauea Lava Flows
Hawaii
Scientists measuring the thickness of Kilauea volcano's newest lava flows say molten rock added as much as 180 feet (55 meters) of lava to parts of Hawaii's Big Island last year.
New land created in the ocean reaches as high as 919 feet (280 meters.)
Kilauea's latest eruption began last May in a residential area called Leilani Estates. It destroyed more than 700 homes on the Big Island before law flows ceased in August.
The lava buried nearly 14 square miles (36 square kilometers) of existing land.
It added about 875 acres (354 hectares) of new land to the island where molten rock flowed offshore.
Hawaii
Curiosity Rover
NASA
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, which touched down in 2014, experienced a "hiccup" while booting up last week - but scientists on Earth have brought it back online and are working to reconstruct what went wrong.
"We're still not sure of its exact cause and are gathering the relevant data for analysis," said Steven Lee, Curiosity's deputy project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a blog post about the incident.
"The rover experienced a one-time computer reset but has operated normally ever since, which is a good sign."
When Curiosity attempted to come back online after an inactive period - a process it's completed more than 30 times previously, according to the post - a glitch triggered a "protective safe mode."
After a weekend of inactivity, mission control successfully brought the rover back online.
NASA
US-Mexico Border
Props
The eight border-wall prototypes President Donald Trump (R-Stooge) inspected during a visit to California in March are going to be torn down to make way for a second barrier separating California and Mexico, the U.S. Department of Customs and Border Protection said Friday.
Construction crews have replaced one layer of fencing along a 14-mile (23-kilometer) stretch of the border separating Mexico and California. Crews recently started work on replacing and extending secondary fence as well.
Border Patrol Agent Theron Francisco said Friday it isn't clear when the prototypes will come down. But he added money has already been set aside for their removal.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday they cost between $300,000 and $500,000 apiece to build.
"There is money already allocated to either take them down or build infrastructure around them. But the decision has been made at the national level to take them down, and the secondary replacement project will take their place," Francisco said.
Props
'Conducting 4 Wars On The Economy'
'Unhinged Madman'
A former U.S. government official believes President Donald Trump (R-OfVlad) is severely hurting the American economy in various ways.
"We have a delusional, unhinged madman in the Oval Office, and anything is possible," David Stockman, the former director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President Ronald Reagan, told Yahoo Finance's The Ticker. "He's conducting four wars on the American economy, and it's not going to make it great again."
"He's conducting a war on the nation's solvency with a fiscal policy that is more out to lunch than anything I've seen since 1970 when I started on Capitol Hill," Stockman fumed.
The big challenge was that even though the economy has been expanding at a rapid pace, "we're in the last months
you don't raise the deficit to $1.2 trillion at the very tippy top of a business cycle and expect anything but bad results," said Stockman.
Hence, Stockman said: "Everything he's doing is wrong. The trade war is wrong. The massive deficits are wrong. Beating up on the Fed when it's trying to go in the right direction is wrong."
'Unhinged Madman'
Okinawa Votes
Japan
Voters on the Japanese island of Okinawa have rejected the relocation of a controversial US military base, according to official results from a non-binding referendum Sunday.
Some 72 percent voted against the move with 19 percent in favour from a 52 percent turnout, the local government said.
Opponents of the relocation -- some 434,000 -- had turned out in sufficient numbers to meet the threshold required for Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to "respect" the result of the symbolic referendum, it said.
For this to happen, one quarter of the eligible electorate -- or around 290,000 people -- had to vote for one of the three options: for or against relocation or a third choice of "neither".
The vote, however, is non-binding on the central government and turnout was just above 50 percent, raising questions about what effect the referendum will have.
Japan
Panel Votes to Expand Vaccine Exemptions
Arizona
As the measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest continues to worsen, an Arizona House panel has approved multiple bills to expand vaccine exemptions in the state, the Arizona Republic reported Friday.
The paper reported the state House Health and Human Services Committee approved three bills with 5-4 votes and support from Republican lawmakers. Representative Nancy Barto, who sponsored the bills, claimed that the bills aim to "strike that balance" between arguments on "both sides" and that vaccinations are "not a one size fits all option for every child." The aims of the bills include expanded exemptions for religious reasons as well as axing a requirement that parents or guardians sign a document in order to opt out of vaccinations.
But health officials have warned of the potential dangers of allowing further exemptions in the state. Bob England, former director of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, told the Arizona Republic in a separate report published Saturday that an outbreak in the Phoenix area could result in a devastating public health issue:
Meanwhile, the measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest that hit Oregon and Washington at the start of the year has worsened. The Washington State Department of Health reported this week that 66 cases of measles have been confirmed, with one in King County and 65 in Clark County where the outbreak is concentrated. The Oregonian reported Sunday that as many as five cases have been confirmed in its state.
Washington state lawmakers recently advanced a bill to limit exemptions for vaccines for school-age children. The Health Care and Wellness Committee endorsed the bill 10-5 with support from Democrats and its sponsor Representative Paul Harris, who was the only Republican vote in favor of the bill.
Arizona
Weekend Box Office
'How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World'
"How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" breathed some fire into a slumping box office with a franchise-best $55.5 million debut over Oscar weekend.
Made for $129 million, "The Hidden World" rode good reviews (91 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and warm audience reaction (an A CinemaScore) to exceed the $43.7 million opening of the 2010 original (which ultimately made $494.9 million worldwide) and the $49 million opening of the 2014 sequel (which amassed $621.5 million).
Last week's top film, "Alita: Battle Angel," dropped steeply in its second weekend with $12 million. That's a slide of 58 percent, and further trouble for the 20th Century Fox release from producer James Cameron and director Robert Rodriguez. The sci-fi film cost a hefty $170 million to make.
MGM's "Fighting With My Family," about professional wrestling star Saraya "Paige" Bevis, was the only other new film in wide release. It expanded to 2,711 theaters after a limited release last weekend, grossing a modest $8 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.
1. "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World," $55.5 million ($34.7 million international).
2. "Alita: Battle Angel," $12 million.
3. "Lego Movie 2: The Second Part," $10 million ($10.3 million international).
4. "Fighting With My Family," $8 million.
5. "Isn't it Romantic," $7.5 million.
6. "What Men Want," $5.2 million.
7. "Happy Death Day," $5 million.
8. "Cold Pursuit," $3.3 million.
9. "The Upside," $3.2 million.
10. "Run the Race," $2.3 million.
'How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World'
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
