Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: Prove Your Love at City Hall (SF Gate)
All day long the couples come, one after another in endless procession, in turns nervous and delighted, terrified and numb, clumsy and ecstatic, most resplendent in rumpled tuxedoes and extravagant lace, entourages in tow and usually a photographer too, all anxiously bunching together in the small, dimly lit hallway in front of the SF county clerk's office, waiting to be waived in so they can get their IDs checked, their paperwork stamped, their hearts authenticated.
Carmen Burana, Augusto Coaracy: 5 Things That Happen After a Car Accident Breaks Your Skull (Cracked)
Pick the one part of your body that you don't want to suffer a traumatic injury. Everyone should have the same answer, aside from all of the dudes pointing at their junk: the head. Because when the head goes wrong, shit gets weird.
Alison Flood: School reports on writers deliver very bad reviews (Guardian)
Charlotte Brontë wrote 'indifferently', according to her teachers, and many another writer's gifts have been roundly trashed by their teachers.
Eleanor Robertson: Richard Dawkins, what on earth happened to you? (Guardian)
Dawkins in 2014 is a man so convinced that he possesses God-like powers of omniscience that he can't understand why everyone is angry at him for pointing out the obvious.
George Monbiot: The rich want us to believe their wealth is good for us all (Guardian)
As the justifications for gross inequality collapse, only the Green party is brave enough to take on the billionaires' boot boys.
Stuart Goldsmith: "From Sarah Millican to Marcus Brigstocke: How the best comedians go about their funny business" (Independent)
Comedians like to claim that the question "how do you write your jokes?" is at best boring or at worst unanswerable.
Nicholas Barber: "Jokes on Hollywood: 'With comedy film audiences shrinking, it's time to move on'" (Independent)
Hollywood comedy is in serious trouble. This month, a study by Japan's Nomura Research Institute showed that America's four biggest film studios had massively cut back on comedy production: in 2010, the genre accounted for 44 per cent of Twentieth Century Fox's releases, for example, but only 8 per cent of their releases this year so far.
Sadie doesn't want her brother to grow up (YouTube)
"Sadie just learned that her little brother will eventually grow up, and won't always be the baby he is now. That's an overwhelming concept for her, and she's not taking it well. I can't say that I blame her; he's got an adorable smile. She also doesn't want to die, no matter how far away that is. Some things are just hard to deal with." - Neatorama
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wrote:
took the day off.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Spud Goodman « My POV
Kiddie Immigration
I understand that kids get on your nerves sometimes, especially when you want a few moments of peace and quiet so I too have dropped an occasional "zip it," "pipe down" or "shut the hell up" but never, ever have I layed "a go back to where you came from" cuz that one opens up all sorts of issues. Stuff that not only covers the kids but also my own somewhat foreign family tree. Don't know for sure but a whole lot of my not that distant relatives dropped by America for a visit years ago and never left. I guess for some reason they thought this country would be a keen place to lay down roots and give a do over a try. I don't think many of them came over with fancy degrees or anything, in fact I remember hearing my grandpa say a few of them were kinda running away from the law where they came from. Mostly junk like stealing chickens and selling things that didn't belong to them. It must have been "The American Dream" plus avoiding a hanging that brought them over here so yeah, I can't really go the lock the door behind me angle without calling bullshit on myself as tempting as it would be when I read about Australian actors like Russell Crowe and Mel Gibson.
When I indulge in my favorite legal habit, cable TV news channels, it is a bit creepy to see/hear an unruly white mob of adults screaming at kids carrying all their belongings in a garbage bag. Too much of a Westboro Church/Nazi Germany mash-up vibe and it feels slimy just taking it all in while sitting in my bean bag chair in the apartment. So more than a few times after hearing how these kids are going to destroy our country by being themselves things move to another level when the commentators on Fox News begin spewing their analysis on this infestation. It's quite possible some of these minors are behind in their vaccinations but I just don't buy a bunch of them are carrying that Ebola thing around and will wipe out the nicer neighborhoods if they are allowed to mow and blow their yards. I will need to see proof before I jump on that bandwagon.
I guess a bunch of these rug rats are running away from a 24/7 version of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Like bullets flying everywhere and having to step over a ton of severed heads while going to the corner store. I know most everybody has seen this type of thing at the movies but I guess experiencing it up close and personal makes it annoying enough to head to someplace where it's not like this. Some of you might think downtown Chicago, Detroit or Newark at 3:00 am might be a scary place to take a stroll but compared to where these kids come from these are 100% gun and drug free zones. I tried to remember back when I was a kid and what scared the crap out me. Mostly it was a neighborhood bully or two who would trip me and swipe my lunch sack. I know current homegrown bullies tend to want more than some kids lunch but still you never hear about any of them now threatening to cut off anyone's head if they don't pay a toll to cross the street.
Some guy on one of those cable news channels not named Fox News suggested that if we gringo's could just kick our nasty drug habits we could stop this stampede towards our border. Of course if the streets of those Central American countries all of sudden were cleaned up you know a butt load of us Yankees would be moving down there in a heart-beat for a life of fun in the sun and or to avoid taxes here in this country so either way these kids are going to have to find a new place to crash. It's a good thing those French dudes didn't send another one of those liberty statues to the border of Texas or California as this situation would be even more embarrassing than it already is as people in other countries get cable TV news channels too. I am hoping that very soon those rude people yelling crap at the kiddie immigrants will get laryngitis and go home. Maybe gargle with a bit of salt water and rest their voices for another day. There will be the need for other displays of temper tantrums and if these patriots shoot their wad now it could be quite disconcerting when the next crisis arrives and all they can do is mumble hoarsely. I suppose they can still scribble on cardboard signs with a possible miss-spelling or two to express themselves but nothing seems more satisfying to these citizens than to express their constitutional right to be uncaring assholes by airing out their leather lungs in full on hate. It's what's for breakfast, lunch and dinner. God bless them. Later.
Kiddie Immigration
Spud Goodman - podcast
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
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.
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
Still hot & humid.
ACM Honors
Kris Kristofferson
The ACM Honors - a continuation of this year's ACM Awards to hand out the Academy of Country Music's off-camera awards - has announced its honorees. Kris Kristofferson is one of four songwriters receiving the Poet's Award, Merle Haggard is the recipient of the Crystal Milestone Award and Carrie Underwood has been named the winner of the Gene Weed Special Achievement Award, recognizing her superior success in country music.
Ronnie Milsap, who will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October, and Toby Keith will receive the Career Achievement Award for their work outside of the country community. Rascal Flatts, meanwhile, will be honored for their contributions in helping establish country music around the world.
Led by Kristofferson, this year's Poet's Award crop is particularly noteworthy: It includes George Strait collaborator Dean Dillon, Bakersfield Sound pioneer Buck Owens and country music Renaissance man Cowboy Jack Clement, who died last year. Both Clement and Owens' awards will be bestowed posthumously.
The 8th Annual ACM Honors, a mix of awards and musical performances, will be held September 9th at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
Kris Kristofferson
Takes Dig At Texass Guard Plan
Jerry Brown
California Gov. Jerry Brown took a not-so-subtle dig at Texas' decision to deploy National Guard troops to the border, saying Monday he expects it to be a short-lived measure and that "wiser minds will prevail."
Brown is in Mexico for three days of meetings, focusing on migration, trade, investment and environmental cooperation.
At a news conference with Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Jose Antonio Meade, Brown said the immigration overload of thousands of Central American youths at the border should be seen as a humanitarian issue. The U.S. is coping with a dramatic increase in the number of unaccompanied children attempting to cross the border, coming mainly from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Meade said he and Brown agree that the use of law-enforcement or military agencies "is never justified in cases where children are concerned" unless they are providing medical or logistical aid.
Jerry Brown
Overtakes MSNBC in July
CNN
The cable news ratings seesaw for No. 2 has been in MSNBC's favor for some time, but not in July. CNN reclaimed runner-up status to Fox News Channel for the month by most key measures.
What's most disconcerting for MSNBC might be its total day average among the news demo of adults 25-54. Dropping 33 percent from July 2013, it actually ranked below HLN by 16,000 viewers for No. 4 status.
To be sure, it wasn't a particularly outstanding month for most of the networks. In primetime and total day, CNN, MSNBC and HLN all were off double digits in the targeted demographic compared to a year ago. FNC, which easily retains the top slot, had the benefit of being up a tick (2 percent) in primetime for an average 299,000 adults 25-54.
There also are individual races that proved more interesting than usual. In the morning, CNN's New Day overtook MSNBC's Morning Joe in the key demo, 93,000 to 79,000 viewers. At 5 p.m., FNC's The Five hit its third month at No. 1 among total viewers across all of cable - beating Nickelodeon's longtime vet and kid-pleaser SpongeBob SquarePants.
And in the evening, Rachel Maddow was only marginally improved from her lowest month ever in June, averaging 181,000 viewers in the key demo. (FNC's Megyn Kelly, by contrast, enjoyed her second-highest-rated month since launch with an especially strong 386,000 adults 25-54.)
CNN
'Disappointed' in Jimmy Page
Robert Plant
The odds of a Led Zeppelin reunion seem to be growing slimmer by the month. In a new interview with Uncut (via NME), Robert Plant says he is "disappointed and baffled" by Jimmy Page and his attempts to fuel the reunion rumor mill.
"I feel for the guy," Plant tells the publication. "He knows he's got the headlines if he wants them. But I don't know what he's trying to do. So I feel slightly disappointed and baffled."
The singer even mentions a failed attempt at collaborating with his former bandmate in an acoustic format. "A couple of years ago, I said, 'If you've got anything acoustic, let me know. I'll give it a whirl. It was hands across the water. He just walked away. But we couldn't do anything proper. The weight of expectation is too great."
Led Zeppelin's last one-off performance came on December 10th, 2007 for the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert (at London's O2 Arena), which honored the late Atlantic Records executive. Ever since, Page has publicly expressed interest in pursuing a full tour, and Led Zep's expansive remastering/reissuing campaign has brought the conversation back into national headlines.
Robert Plant
Contract Dispute Delays Production
'Big Bang Theory'
Production on a new season of "The Big Bang Theory" is being delayed because of a contract dispute with its top actors.
The Warner Brothers Television studio, which makes television's most popular comedy, said that Wednesday's scheduled first day of work after the summer hiatus was postponed. There's no word on when "The Big Bang Theory" team will be back at work.
The CBS series is heading into its eighth season, and the studio is trying to hammer out new deals with actors Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar.
It's considered far too early for such a dispute to affect the timing of a show's season premiere. "The Big Bang Theory" opens its new season on Sept. 22. The show is moving temporarily to Mondays for the beginning of the new season with CBS airing NFL football games on Thursdays for the first half of the season.
'Big Bang Theory'
Passage To Be Cut From Book
Jesse Ventura
The passage from the best-selling memoir "American Sniper" that sparked former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's defamation lawsuit against author Chris Kyle will be removed, publisher HarperCollins said Wednesday.
A federal jury in St. Paul awarded Ventura over $1.8 million in damages on Tuesday, finding that a section of the book defamed Ventura.
Kyle, a former Navy SEAL regarded as the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history, wrote that he decked Ventura at a California bar in 2006 after Ventura made offensive comments about SEALs, including that the SEALs "deserve to lose a few" in Iraq.
A woman answering Ventura's phone Wednesday said he was not available. But in an interview with "CBS This Morning" on Wednesday, Ventura said: "I plan to visit HarperCollins. They published the book and did no due diligence to find out if the story was true."
Jesse Ventura
Wraps Up Pacific Whale Hunt
Japan
Japan announced Tuesday that it had wrapped up a whale hunt in the Pacific, the second campaign since the UN's top court ordered Tokyo to halt a separate slaughter in the Antarctic.
The country's fisheries agency said 115 whales were killed during the two-and-a-half month campaign as the whaling fleet returned home.
The hunt saw 90 Sei whales and 25 Bryde's whales killed, in line with a pre-hunt target, the agency said, adding that there was no interference from anti-whaling activists.
It was the second campaign since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said in March that Japan's annual expedition to the Southern Ocean was a commercial activity masquerading as research.
In June, Japan slaughtered 30 Minke whales as part of a coastal whaling hunt.
Japan
Agrees To Pay AT&T
Netflix
Video streaming service Netflix has agreed to pay U.S. broadband provider AT&T Inc to ensure smooth delivery of Netflix content to Internet users, the companies said on Tuesday.
The announcement of the deal, struck in May, comes as Netflix has been waging a public campaign against such fees, which they present as tolls, and calling on the Federal Communications Commission to review the market.
Having brokered this so-called interconnection agreement, AT&T and Netflix are now working to build out new network connections for Netflix content to be delivered directly to AT&T's servers "to improve the viewing experience for our mutual subscribers," the companies' representatives said.
This marks the third such agreement Netflix struck with major U.S. Internet service providers in recent months after it revealed similar traffic exchange agreements with Verizon Communications Inc in April and Comcast Corp in February.
Financial terms of such interconnection agreements are secret. The FCC last month moved to privately review the current deals, though did not indicate specific plans to regulate that part of the market.
Netflix
Estonia Gig Nixed
Steven Seagal
Hollywood tough guy Steven Seagal (R-Pink Panties) has had his blues gig cancelled at a festival in Estonia following an uproar in this formerly-Soviet ruled Baltic state over the star's pro-Russia views, the authorities said Tuesday.
Seagal is reported to back Russian President Vladimir Putin's March annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and regards him as a personal friend.
The blues-singing action movie star was booked to perform next month at Tallinn's "Augustibluus" summer blues festival, but uproar among Estonians forced organisers to pull the plug, the authorities said.
Estonian rock star Tonis Magi, who headlines the festival, went so far as to call for a boycott of the Tallinn event if Seagal was allowed to perform.
Seagal dubbed Putin "one of the greatest world leaders" in March after Moscow annexed Crimea, according to Britain's Guardian broad sheet daily.
Steven Seagal
In Memory
James Shigeta
James Shigeta, who played the lead in the 1961 movie musical "Flower Drum Song" and had a small role in the first "Die Hard," has died. He was 85.
His sister-in-law, Ellie Shigeta, tells the Los Angeles Times that he died Monday at an assisted-living facility in Beverly Hills.
Born in Hawaii, Shigeta first gained national fame as a singer when he won the grand prize in the early TV talent show, "The Original Amateur Hour."
Although he briefly got the spotlight after "Flower Drum Song," he never again played the leading man in a major film, although he continued to appear in TV shows and movies.
In 1988's "Die Hard," Shigeta played an executive who is shot by terrorists for refusing to divulge the codes to a vault.
James Shigeta
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