Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Bill Maher: Governing With GOP 'Is Like Rooming With A Meth Addict'
Maher's main beef with the right wing tonight: a perceived lack of focus on real issues. He rattled off a list of what he called the "useless distractions that make up the Republican Party agenda" - they included public unions, Sharia law, anchor babies, the "Ground Zero mosque," NPR, and the "war on Christmas," among others.
Ted Rall: A Tsunami 100 Times Worse Than Japan
The earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan last week has killed at least 10,000 people. It is terrible. It may be a sneak preview of something 100 times worse. The next Big Flood will probably be the worst natural disaster in history. It could easily be avoided. Yet no one is lifting a finger to save the lives of one to five million people.
Marc Dion: Overtime on the Tragedy Shift (Creators Syndicate)
Irony (and I hate irony) aside, it's not surprising that selling the death drugs is just a business that salespeople, CEOs, truck drivers and shipper/receivers are involved in making the stuff, taking their paychecks home and eventually paying the cable bill.
Susan Estrich: Heroes (Creators Syndicate)
For two days, I have been sitting with men and women in skimpy gowns - and even skimpy shorts - many of them literally afraid for their lives. There we were, our breasts crammed into mammogram machines one day, drinking barium the next, hoping to rule out this and that and walk out with one of those get-out-of-jail cards that means you're free for another year, or that there is no blockage, or that the scan didn't show anything "unusual."
Nick Bridwell: "Wesley Wyndam-Pryce: Joss Whedon's True Tragic Hero" (Popmatters)
Whedon and his team of writers, such as Tim Minear and Steven S. DeKnight, write Wesley as the Biblical Job of the Whedonverse, repeatedly pushed to the brink of darkness, only to rally time and time again behind the forces of good. Wesley, portrayed brilliantly by Alexis Denisof, undergoes the greatest transformation of any character Whedon has written, ...
Stacey Abbott: "Joss Whedon 101: Angel" (Popmatters)
It was while shooting Season Two that Joss Whedon approached 'Buffy' co-producer David Greenwalt and David Boreanaz about potentially spinning Angel off into his own series. Angel would stay on Buffy for a third season, the point of which was to build to his and Buffy's painful breakup and Angel's departure for Los Angeles.
Robert W. Butler: Robert De Niro on his career, characters and future (McClatchy Newspapers)
Robert De Niro isn't a big talker. Certainly not to reporters. A major actor for four decades, the two-time Oscar winner rarely gives interviews.
KIKI MARTINEZ: Interview: Abigail Breslin on 'Rango' (San Antonio Current)
Oscar-nominated actress Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine") is the voice of Priscilla in the animated feature "Rango."
ROGER EBERT'S JOURNAL: The spheres of the music
What do you think of while you listen to classical music? Do you have an education in music, and think of the composer's strategies, or the conductor's interpretation? Do you, in short, think in words at all? I never do, and I suppose that would make me incompetent as a music critic. I fall into a reverie state.
Tim Jonze: In bed with Beth Ditto (Guardian)
Has Beth Ditto sold out her riot grrrl principles? Is she a one-hit wonder? What does she think of Lady Gaga? There was only one way to get the answers . . .
Interview by Andrew Pulver: Photographer Bob Gruen's best shot (Guardian)
When they were getting ready before the first show, Iggy Pop came in to say hello. I saw Iggy and Debbie talking, so I asked: "Can I get a picture of you two together?" We stepped into a bathroom by the dressing room. Instead of just standing there, he put his arm round her, feeling her up; she started licking his chest. A great music picture is all about attitude - and Debbie and Iggy have pure attitude. They just look cool.
Randy Lewis: Guitar on a smoking hot roll (Los Angeles Times)
The pages of newspapers, or history books for that matter, don't runneth over with stories of happy accidents involving chainsaws. But that's just what put Philadelphia musicians Lucy Tight and Wayne Waxing, who tour as Hymn for Her, in possession of a musical instrument that changed the direction of their career.
David Bruce has 41 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $41 you can buy 10,250 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," and "Maximum Cool."
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Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Comment
Letter Writing
I just thought I would let you know that I plan to write a letter to Howard Stern, and in that letter I intend to take the Vulgar Pigboy down a notch or two in the court of public opinion.
All I have to do is to point out that, in regard to Rush's "all-male" pleasure trip in late June 2006 - the one where he got caught with Viagra in another person's name upon his return - his destination was the Dominican Republic, which is notorious for child prostitution. All I have to do is ask, "Rush, what were you doing with that Viagra down there? Do you love the kids there, if you ken my meanin'?", and I believe that Howard, in his place as the King of All Media, would invite me to come on the program and explain this. It would get some attention for both Howard and myself, and I think it would bring much more scrutiny to the Vulgar Pigboy.
I may just write that letter tomorrow, so I will - hopefully - hear from Howard soon. The hard part is, I don't have a satellite radio, but I wish to have one someday. Keep bringing the hits, my friends!
George M
Thanks George!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Rainy, windy and cold.
Cameras Roll In New Zealand
The Hobbit
Filming has started on director Peter Jackson's production of "The Hobbit" in New Zealand.
The $50 million, two-movie production has suffered from a series of problems including studio funding problems, a threatened actors' boycott and ulcer surgery for Jackson.
The director posted a studio press release on his web site on Monday announcing that production has commenced in New Zealand on the much-anticipated project.
British actor Martin Freeman will star as hobbit Bilbo Baggins alongside Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom in twin movies of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel about a short, hairy-footed hero.
The Hobbit
Keeps Meteorite
Smithsonian
A small meteorite that crashed through the roof of a Virginia medical office last year is becoming part of the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History in Washington.
The Smithsonian paid $10,000 for the meteorite to Marc Gallini and Frank Ciampi, the Lorton, Va. doctors who found it. They have in turn given the $10,000 check to the Doctors Without Borders charity.
Museum spokesman Randall Kremer said Saturday the meteorite is part of the museum's research collection. The Smithsonian holds the world's largest collection of natural history specimens and artifacts.
Meteorites are lucrative, and after the tennis-ball-sized rock fell from the sky and landed in an examination room in the office in January 2010, the landlords at the doctors' building made a legal claim to it. But that claim was later dropped.
Smithsonian
Put Painting Before Pop
Syd Barrett
He helped create one of rock's greatest bands, but the late Syd Barrett always considered himself a painter before a Pink Floyd founder. Speaking at an exhibition of the troubled musician's canvases and letters, his sister Rosemary Breen said Barrett could never understand why people put his brief success with Pink Floyd ahead of his lifelong passion for art.
"His art was the real him," Breen told Reuters in an interview, surrounded by dozens of works left behind by Barrett, who died of cancer in 2006 aged 60.
"He was firstly an artist and secondly a musician. If ever he was asked what he did, the reaction would always be 'I'm an artist', never 'I'm a musician.'"
Barrett, she added, did not understand why he was so famous, despite being an original Pink Floyd member and its creative force before the English group hit the big time.
Breen said she hoped the show, "Syd Barrett: Art and Letters" at Idea Generation Gallery in east London from March 18 to April 10, would help dispel the myth that Barrett was an aggressive, deranged loner, just another rock'n'roll burnout.
Syd Barrett
London's Most Royal Pub
Windsor Castle Bar
Britain will grind to a halt next month for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, but in one London pub it's a royal celebration 365 days a year.
At the Windsor Castle bar, Kate faces severe competition to find a spot among the enamel plates featuring Princess Diana and the commemorative nicknacks which completely cover the walls and ceiling.
"I've got some memorabilia on its way," said Edward Wheeler, the barman. "I've already been promised some plates."
But glancing up at the packed walls, the 64-year-old admits it will take some planning to squeeze in the latest addition to the royal family.
This veritable mini-museum of royal memorabilia in Marylebone traces the royal line from the present day back to Queen Victoria's reign which dominated 19th century Britain.
Windsor Castle bar
Runs Photos Of Afghan Killings
Der Spiegel
The German news organization Der Spiegel published photographs Sunday showing two U.S. soldiers posing with the corpse of an Afghan civilian they're accused of murdering.
The photos were among several seized by Army investigators looking into the deaths of three unarmed Afghans last year. Five soldiers based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Seattle, have been charged with murder and conspiracy in the case.
Due to their content, the photographs were placed under a strict protective order that initially prevented even defense attorneys from obtaining copies.
One of the published photographs shows a key figure in the investigation, Cpl. Jeremy Morlock of Wasilla, Alaska, grinning as he lifts the head of a corpse by the hair. Der Spiegel identified the body as that of Gul Mudin, whom Morlock claims to have killed with Pvt. 1st Class Andrew Holmes on Jan. 15, 2010, in Kandahar Province.
Another photo shows Holmes, of Boise, Idaho, lifting the same corpse by the hair. His lawyer said Sunday that he was ordered to be in the photo, which was taken while the platoon leader, Lt. Roman Ligsay, was present.
Der Spiegel
Bullet Grazed Hand
Wyclef Jean
Musician Wyclef Jean said Sunday that a bullet grazed his hand as he stepped out of a car to make a telephone call, but he said he was only slightly injured.
Jean, who has been in Haiti helping the presidential campaign of his friend and fellow musician Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, said the bullet grazed him late Saturday night as he stepped out of his car in the Delmas section of the capital, Port-au-Prince, to make a call on his cellphone.
"The way I can explain it is that the bullet grazed me in my right hand," Jean told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "I heard blow, blow, blow and I just looked at my hand."
Jean, who was with a driver and the Haitian hip-hop singer FanFan at the time, said he doesn't know who fired the shots, or whether they were directed at him.
Wyclef Jean
Rush May Drive Risky Deals
Wireless Airwaves
In the telecommunication industry's land grab for wireless airwaves, investors better brace for U.S. deals that are bewildering -- or worse.
To stay competitive with powerhouses Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc, smaller and mid-sized telephone companies are badly in need of more wireless airwaves to handle the rising Web traffic demands of smartphones and tablet computers.
That may leave operators little choice but to consider partnerships and full-fledged mergers. "If you don't have enough spectrum, how are you going to compete? You've got to force M&A ahead of that," said one telecom banker who asked not to be named due to lack of authorization to speak publicly on the topic.
For now, most of the chatter surrounds Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, and its smaller rival, T-Mobile USA. Both are looking at ways to beef up their networks.
Wireless Airwaves
Passes Michael Jackson At Box Office
Justin Bieber
Paramount's "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" has now surpassed Michael Jackson This Is It to become the most successful concert-themed movie at the domestic box office.
Through Sunday, Justin Bieber had earned $72.2 million at the domestic box office. Sony's "This Is It" grossed $72.1 million domestically.
However, This Is It still holds the worldwide record, having grossed $189.1 million overseas for a global total of $261.2 million. Usually, concert films don't travel well.
"Never Say Never" has grossed $10.8 million at the international box office, a solid number, considering that the Jonas Brothers' concert film grossed only $4 million internationally, while "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" earned $5 million. "Hannah Montana" grossed $65 million domestically.
Justin Bieber
Taps Spiritual Help For Obama Visit
Rio
Rio de Janeiro, famed for its warm beaches and sunny skies, has hired a spiritual guru to keep the clouds away for U.S. President Barack Obama's visit this weekend.
Adelaide Scritori, a medium who followers believe can help control climate patterns, claims to make contact with an ancient spirit known as Chief Cobra Coral who, according to legend, is powerful enough to influence natural phenomena.
"She goes into deep concentration so that she can communicate with the chief, and she asks him for good weather," said Osmar Santos, her husband and a spokesperson for the Chief Cobra Coral Foundation that supports Scritori's work.
Scritori provides similar services for Rio ahead of its New Year celebrations and has also helped out during the visits of former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2007 and late Pope John Paul II in 1997.
Rio
Take A Liking To US Waters
Harp Seals
Harp seals from Canada are showing up in U.S. waters in greater numbers and farther south than usual, and biologists want to know why.
Small numbers of juvenile harp seals are typically found each winter stranded along the coast of the northeastern United States. But this year, well over 100 adult harp seals - not juveniles - have been spotted, said Mendy Garron, regional marine mammal stranding coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Gloucester, Mass. The sightings are reported by 14 seal stranding and rehabilitation organizations in New England and the Middle Atlantic.
"In some areas they're reporting three times the normal number of sightings," Garron said. "This year, we've had four sightings of adult harp seals in North Carolina, which we've never had before. We typically don't see them that far south."
Seals are common in New England waters, where the most abundant type is the harbor seal, with a population estimated at about 100,000 the last time they were surveyed a decade ago. Gray seals are the second most common seal.
Harp Seals
Weekend Box Office
`Limitless'
There was no stopping "Limitless" at the box office. The sci-fi thriller opened at No. 1 this weekend with $19 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The film from Relativity Media stars Bradley Cooper as a struggling writer who takes a magical pill that allows him to tap into his maximum brain potential. Suddenly he's cleaned up, making millions and wowing everyone he meets. Robert De Niro co-stars as a financial guru who's fascinated by him, with Abbie Cornish as Cooper's skeptical girlfriend.
Last week's No. 1, the alien invasion movie "Battle: Los Angeles," fell to third place with $14.6 million. The Sony Pictures release has now made an estimated $60.6 million in two weeks. Coming in second was the animated Western "Rango," featuring the voice of Johnny Depp as a chameleon who's stuck in the desert. The Paramount film made $15.3 million for a three-week total of nearly $92.6 million.
It was a slow weekend, with the other new releases battling for the fourth and fifth spots. At No. 4 was the Lionsgate thriller "The Lincoln Lawyer" starring Matthew McConaughey as a sleazy defense attorney on a high-profile case. It made an estimated $13.4 million. In fifth place was "Paul," with Seth Rogen providing the voice of a pot-smoking, wise-cracking alien who befriends a couple of British sci-fi geeks, played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (who also wrote the script). The Universal Pictures comedy made about $13.2 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Limitless," $19 million.
2. "Rango," $15.3 million.
3. "Battle: Los Angeles," $14.6 million.
4. "The Lincoln Lawyer," $13.4 million.
5. "Paul," $13.2 million
6. "Red Riding Hood," $7.3 million.
7. "The Adjustment Bureau," $5.9 million
8. "Mars Needs Moms!" $5.3 million.
9. "Beastly," $3.3 million.
10. "Hall Pass," $2.6 million.
`Limitless'
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