Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Money for Nothing (New York Times)
… it's simply crazy to be laying off schoolteachers and canceling infrastructure projects at a time when investors are offering zero- or negative-interest financing. You don't even have to make a Keynesian argument about jobs to see that. All you have to do is note that when money is cheap, that's a good time to invest. And both education and infrastructure are investments in America's future; we'll eventually pay a large and completely gratuitous price for the way they're being savaged.
Paul Krugman: Loading the climate change dice
A couple of weeks ago the Northeast was in the grip of a severe heat wave. As I write this, however, it's a fairly cool day in New Jersey, considering that it's late July. Weather is like that; it fluctuates. And this banal observation may be what dooms us to climate catastrophe, in two ways.
Connie Schultz: Clearly, Marissa Mayer Never Has Danced the Feminist Fandango (Creators Syndicate)
Marissa Mayer can call herself whatever she likes. We feminists are big on that. If she wants to distance herself from the suffragists who fought for her right to vote, heck, that's her choice, too. You can see her point. Those ladies may have changed the country, but they were pretty darn humorless when prison guards force-fed them until they vomited. Eighty-one women, and not one of them could find a punch line? Please.
Froma Harrop: Badger Cottage Versus Toad Hall (Creators Syndicate)
An "aunt" to three kids, ages 7 to 12, I recently invited them and their parents to a rented vacation house. There was great swimming nearby, a honky-tonk town with a carousel and pretty country roads. Toward the end, I asked them what they most enjoyed about their vacation. They answered "the house" - specifically the room they shared upstairs, a tiny space with barely enough floor to accommodate a bed and two inflated mattresses.
Rachel Arons: Where Do I Start With Devo? (Slate)
Devo's sound and style turned out to be hugely influential on subsequent New Wave artists, and on future big-time musicians like Lady Gaga and Kurt Cobain, who called Devo "the most challenging and subversive of all" the bands that broke from the underground into the mainstream in the 1970s. And the band's depiction of a rigidly conformist culture hijacked by technology and advertisements turned out to be so prescient that it has allowed Devo to cop a deservedly I-told-you-so attitude today.
MaryAnn Johanson: The Darkest Knight (Charleston City Paper)
"The Dark Knight Rises" may be the darkest, the grimmest, the most depressing summer popcorn movie ever. It is not summery. It is not popcorny. There is no adventure here. There is no escapism. There is only grinding reality to be endured in the harsh mirror it holds up to the audience. For there can be no mistake that the people of Gotham are us, we 99 percent huddled in the dark, frantic for a hero we will not find.
Roger Ebert: The Dark Knight Rises (3 stars)
It lacks the near-perfection of "The Dark Knight" (2008), it needs more clarity and a better villain, but it's an honorable finale.
Paul Constant: End Game (The Stranger)
Christopher Nolan Brings His Batman Trilogy to a Smashing Close.
Terry Jones: the Python, the owl and the pussycat (Guardian)
The former Python thinks Edward Lear's famous poem is devoid of drama and meaning. So how did he turn it into an opera? He talks to Stuart Jeffries about trans-species love - and his new film about Earth-invading aliens.
Forrest Wickman: Carly Rae Jepsen Returns with Another Guiltless Guilty Pleasure (Slate)
Carly Rae Jepsen's new single could have become the song of the summer, if she hadn't locked in that title already. That's because "Good Time," Jepsen's new duet with Postal Service-lite songwriter Owl City has the lyrics of will.i.am, the chorus of Dr. Luke, and the generic video of one Rebecca Black-and Carly Rae Jepsen's brand of giddy, innocent exuberance makes it all work.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
wrote:
answered:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Day 19
Gulf Fritillary
Came across some Gulf Fritillary larva
on the back fence, so it looks like we'll have a third year of raising butterflies. : )
Click on any picture for a larger version.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Another marine layer held on til mid-afternoon.
$2.5M Donation
MacKenzie & Jeff Bezos
Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, announced Friday they are donating $2.5 million to the campaign to defend Washington's same-sex marriage law.
With the gift, Washington United for Marriage has raised more than $5 million for its referendum campaign.
Amazon publicly supported the law earlier this year, along with other prominent Pacific Northwest businesses, including Microsoft, Starbucks Corp. and Nike Inc.
Last month, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer and co-founder Bill Gates each donated $100,000 to support the law.
The first television ad supporting gay marriage in Washington state was set to start during the Olympics opening ceremony Friday. The statewide ad was paid for by Seattle-based Pride Foundation, and will run several times a day on broadcast television in three media markets over the entire two-week Olympic games.
MacKenzie & Jeff Bezos
Past Rivals Return For New Season
"Dancing with the Stars"
"Dancing with the Stars" is repeating some steps for its fall season. An "All-Star" edition of the ABC competition show will bring back 12 former rivals including Pamela Anderson, Kirstie Alley and Bristol Palin.
Former 'NSync member Joey Fatone and gymnast Shawn Johnson will also be returning, ABC announced Friday.
Other contestants include: "General Hospital" star Kelly Monaco, former 98 Degrees boy-band member Drew Lachey, Super Bowl champ Emmitt Smith, Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, and Olympic medalist speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno.
In a break from the past, viewers can vote online for the 13th contestant from three former contestants including actors Kyle Massey and Sabrina Bryan and celebrity stylist Carson Kressley.
"Dancing" returns on ABC on Sept. 24.
"Dancing with the Stars"
Joins NBC's 'Voice'
Billie Joe Armstrong
NBC's "The Voice" is adding a high-powered rocker to the mix.
NBC said Thursday that Green Day vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong has joined the talent contest as a mentor to Christina Aguilera's team this coming season.
In a statement, Armstrong said he and his family are fans of the show.
"The Voice" has won over viewers because "it's not molding artists, it's just giving them a little bit of guidance and direction without giving them a complete makeover," he said.
Besides, Armstrong says, working with Aguilera is "a lot of fun." He started taping Wednesday on "The Voice," which has been in production for season three since June.
Billie Joe Armstrong
Hospital News
Darlene Love
Darlene Love, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who's considered one of the best background singers of all time, is recovering from a mild heart attack.
Her agent Eric Stevens says the 71-year-old experienced some discomfort prior to a performance over the weekend in Asbury Park, N.J. As the pain grew a day later, Love went to a hospital and was told she suffered a mild heart attack.
Steven says doctors "expect a hundred and ten percent recovery as early as next week" for Love. She has returned home and her planned concerts will go on.
Love lent her voice to several of Phil Spector's hits in the 1960s, in acts like the Crystals and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans. Love also has Broadway and film credits.
Darlene Love
Suit Filed Over Stuntman's Death
'Expendables 2'
The parents of a stuntman killed while working on the film "The Expendables 2" filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday against the makers of the action film.
Kun Liu was killed during a stunt in Bulgaria in October 2011 while performing in a rubber boat on Ognyanovo dam, just outside the capital, Sofia. He died after suffering wounds from a nearby explosion.
His parents Zong Yu Liu and Yan Mei Bai are seeking unspecified damages of more than $25,000 against Millennium Films and the movie's stunt coordinator, Chad Stahelski.
Kun Liu, 26, was a native of Beijing and his parents are suing for funeral and burial expenses as well as "the loss of society, love, comfort, attention, services and support" of their son. They claim the filmmakers and Stahelski "negligently and carelessly failed to provide adequate protection from hard to the participants of the stunts."
"The Expendables 2" stars Sylvester Stallone (R-Steroids), Bruce Willis (R-Rotten Tipper) and Arnold $chwarzenegger (R-Philanderer) and is due to be released in the United States on Aug. 3.
'Expendables 2'
Damage Control
Fred Willard
Fred Willard said his recent lewd conduct arrest at an adult movie theater was "very embarrassing" but insisted he did nothing wrong.
"It's the last time I'm going to listen to my wife when she says, 'Why don't you go and see a movie?'" Willard said during an appearance Thursday on Jimmy Fallon's NBC show "Late Night."
Then the conversation turned serious for Willard, whose credits include the movie "Best in Show" and guest roles on "Modern Family" and other TV shows.
"It's very embarrassing. It's as embarrassing as hell," Willard replied. "But let me say this: Nothing happened. I did nothing wrong. Everything is being sorted out as we speak."
He's tried to laugh it off but the incident is "very painful," said Willard, who was fired as narrator of the new PBS series "Market Warriors" immediately after his arrest.
Fred Willard
AMC Terminates
'The Killing'
AMC network has pronounced "The Killing" dead.
The network said Friday the murder whodunit won't be returning for a third season.
The announcement comes as no surprise. A dwindling audience for the series reflected widespread viewer frustration about how the mystery unfolded involving who killed Seattle teen Rosie Larsen.
"The Killing" concluded its second season last month.
'The Killing'
'Spider-Man' Cover Sold For $657,250
Todd McFarlane
Artist Todd McFarlane's original cover art for "The Amazing Spider-Man" No. 328 has sold for a record $657,250 at auction, just one among several pieces from the 1990s that went for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The McFarlane cover, which shows Spider-Man gut-punching the Hulk, was part of a collection of original art owned Martin Shamus, a Long Island, N.Y.-based comics and memorabilia shop owner.
McFarlane drew several titles for Marvel Comics in the 1990s and then left to develop his own character, "Spawn," and form Image Comics with other artists and writers.
The cover was among several sold by Heritage Auctions, and also included McFarlane's cover for "Spider-Man" No. 1, which was bought for $358,500.
Todd McFarlane
Musical Finds Broadway Home
'A Christmas Story'
A musical stage version of the classic film "A Christmas Story" has found a home on Broadway.
Producers said Thursday that "Christmas Story, The Musical!" will play the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre from Nov. 5 to Dec. 30. The musical spent much of last year on a national tour.
The show has more than a dozen catchy songs written by Benj Pasek and composer Justin Paul, with titles including "Red Ryder Carbine Action BB Gun" and "A Major Award."
Both the 1983 film and musical are based the story of 9-year-old Ralphie Parker's desperate attempt to land an air rifle as a Christmas gift, despite warnings that he'll shoot his eye out.
'A Christmas Story'
In Memory
Grace Keillor
Grace Keillor, the mother of "A Prairie Home Companion" host Garrison Keillor, has died at age 97.
Garrison Keillor says his mother died Friday at her home in Minnesota "with her children around her holding her hand and singing hymns."
Keillor says his mother "had a good long life and was still lucid a couple weeks ago and even had a good laugh about a dream she had."
Grace Ruth Denham was born in Minneapolis on May 7, 1915. She married John Keillor in 1936, and the couple raised six children in a Brooklyn Park house that John Keillor built in 1947.
John Keillor died in 2001. Garrison Keillor says his mother stayed in the house, "entertaining her family, playing Scrabble, reading, singing hymns and praying for her loved ones."
Grace Keillor
In Memory
Lupe Ontiveros
Veteran actress Lupe Ontiveros, who appeared in scores of TV shows and movies including "Desperate Housewives," ''Selena" and "As Good As It Gets," has died. She was 69.
Ontiveros died Thursday at a hospital in Whittier, Calif., a suburb southeast of Los Angeles, after a brief battle with liver cancer, according to longtime friend and family spokesman Jerry Velasco.
She was perhaps best known for her role in "Selena," the 1997 biopic based on the life story of the Tejano pop star. Ontiveros played Yolanda Saldivar, who in real-life was convicted of killing Selena Quintanilla. The film launched the career of Jennifer Lopez, who played the title part.
But that was only one of many roles. Ontiveros worked steadily in TV and film for more than 35 years.
Her credits include "Real Women Have Curves," TV's "Desperate Housewives" and - as in "The Goonies" - many, many turns as a housekeeper. She once estimated she played a maid more than 300 times on the stage and screen.
"I've had a hell of a good time playing those maids," she told LA Weekly in 2002. "Each one to me is very special ... No matter how much I resent the stupidity that is written into them, the audacity that the industry has when they portray us in such a nonsensical, idiotic, such - oh my God! - such a degrading manner, still, my humor survives in these maids. I'm very proud of them."
Born Guadalupe Moreno in El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 17, 1942, Ontiveros caught the acting bug in 1972 when she answered a newspaper ad for movie extras. She went on to help establish the Latino Theater Company in Los Angeles and advocated for Latino performers throughout her career.
Ontiveros is survived by her husband, three sons and two granddaughters.
Lupe Ontiveros
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
